Up for Grabs
PG, Decatur battle for state tourney bid
TYLER, Texas—A trip to the high school baseball state tournament in Austin is on the line.
Fourth-ranked Pleasant Grove (33-3) takes on Decatur (27-10) in the Region II-4A finals with Game 1 of the best-of-3 series today at 7:30 p.m. at Mike Carter Field.
Game 2 is Thursday at noon, and a third game, if needed, will follow.
“When you’re one of eight teams left in the state, then you have good, quality programs left,” Pleasant Grove head coach Riley Fincher said. “I expect a highly competitive series.
“We’re happy about where we are now. We are completely focused on Game 1 and want to put ourselves in a position to win the series.”
The Hawks are the defending Region II-4A champions and are 8-0 in the playoffs this season with four shutouts.
In Pleasant Grove’s last six games, they have given up just two runs in their last six games.
Pleasant Grove has been to the regional finals nine times out of the last 10 years, winning seven championships.
Decatur has a record of 7-2 in the playoffs as it dropped a game to Melissa in the area round and lost a game to Sanger in the regional quarterfinals.
The Hawks swept Argyle in the regional semifinals, 6-1 and 8-0. The Eagles shut out Gilmer in a 1-game playoff, 2-0, in their regional semifinal.
Pleasant Grove Game 1 winning pitcher Caleb Bolden and Game 2 winner Tyler Jeans each threw a 3-hitter against Argyle.
The pitching rotation for the Hawks will stay the same, and Bolden will start in Game 1 against Decatur, while Jeans will start on the hill for Game 2.
“We’re expecting Caleb to give us a quality start,” Fincher said. “He’s excited to go out there, represent his school, and give us a chance to play in Austin.”
Bolden is 13-1 on the year, and teammate Jeans is 13-0 for Pleasant Grove. Bolden has a 0.92 earned run average and is batting .571 with seven home runs and 45 RBI.
Other starters for the Hawks include Keaton Russo at catcher, Will Hlavinka starts at first, Cade Thompson at second, and Connor Ouellette plays third. Rounding out the infield is Jackson Cobb at shortstop, and Jeans is the
designated hitter.
Nathan Brinkley starts in left field, Carson Cox plays center, and Heath Ferguson is the right fielder.
“At this point in the playoffs, we are going to have to get good starting pitching,” Fincher said. “We are going to have to get good, timely hitting and play solid defense behind our pitcher.”
PG is the District 14-4A champion, while Decatur is the third seed from District 9-4A. The Eagles finished tied for second in the district but lost a coin flip to Sanger for the No. 2 seed.
“The Eagles have a good program and split with Argyle this season,” Fincher said.
Decatur returns nine starters for this season from a 23-11-1 team of a year ago. The Eagles handed Argyle its only loss in district play.
The winner of the series will earn a berth in the Class 4A state baseball tournament next week in Austin.
All games will be broadcast on 94.1 KTRG.