Mills lifts Dulles past Deer Park

ALVIN — Dakota Mills stole the show as Dulles defeated Deer Park 7-4 in a one-game Class 5A Region III playoff game Saturday.

The Vikings advanced to this week’s region semifinals against defending 5A state champion Cypress Ranch.

Deer hurler Josh Pettitte carried the spotlight into Saturday’s contest. But the Baylor signee was unable to deliver a win after being roughed up for 10 hits and five walks.

Pettitte struck out 10 and threw 121 pitches before being lifted with two outs in the seventh inning.

Mills went quite a bit a further, delivering a staggering 161 pitches. That total included 10 full counts. He struck out seven and walked six.

The Vikings senior also did his part at the plate with a single and a runscoring double.

Dulles scored single runs in five of the first six innings and added two more in the seventh.

Darryn Sheppard also had a pair of hits and an RBI.

Both teams had three errors in the contest. Deer Park bunched all three miscues into the top of the seventh and gave away two runs.

The Deer did not have a run-scoring hit in the contest, scoring twice on errors and adding one on a wild pitch.

Deer Park left 10 runners on base, including six in scoring position.

Pettitte had two hits on the night, the only Deer hitter with more than one. Steven Thomson is a freelance writer.