Garza’s 3-hitter lifts Cavaliers to Game 1 win
THE WOODLANDS — Through the first two rounds of the postseason, Oak Ridge and College Park combined to go 4-0 in Game 1s while playing best-ofthree series.
That perfect record took its first blemish Thursday evening when the District 12-6A rivals squared off against each other in the opening contest of the Region II-6A quarterfinals.
It was College Park that came out on top with a 4-2 victory on its home field, using a strong pitching performance from starter Brandon Garza to hold the Oak Ridge lineup at bay.
Garza, who is ambidextrous, relied on his right arm against Oak Ridge, allowing just three hits and one earned while tossing a complete game against the 12-6A champions.
Oak Ridge (23-10) took the regular-season series against College Park, winning 13-5 and 5-4, respectively, in the first two meetings. But it was the Cavaliers (20-17-1) who took the final contest by a score of 11-8 and have now won seven of their past eight games.
The second game of the series begins at 7 tonight at Oak Ridge. Game 3 will also be played at 7 p.m. at Oak Ridge on Saturday if needed.
“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, if you can get Game 1, you feel good about yourself,” College Park coach Jason Washburn said. “But that’s all we’ve done right now — we’ve won one game, and we’ve got to go play hard tomorrow. They’re obviously a very good ball club, and they’re going to be ready to play. They’re not going to lay down.”
Oak Ridge came out strong in the opening frame, plating two runs for the early lead. James Starnes delivered a single to right field to score Chase Roberts, and courtesy runner Cole Rollins also came home on the play after an errant throw by the Cavaliers.
College Park cut into its deficit in the bottom of the frame, however, as Travis Washburn launched a solo home run over the right-field fence.
“That home run that Travis hit in the bottom of the first really gave me the confidence to go back out there and try to shut them down,” Garza said. “It really gave us the momentum, and then I really just carried that confidence the rest of the game.”
The Cavaliers tied the game in the third inning as Luke Trahan crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly from Luke Repka. Washburn then gave College Park a 3-2 lead during the next at-bat, scoring with an error by the War Eagles on a ground ball hit by Isaac Rivera.
Repka added some insurance for the Cavaliers in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run to right field.
Garza then took the War Eagles down in order in the seventh inning to preserve the victory and give his team the series lead.
“He pitched with a lot of guts,” Washburn said of Garza. “I was very pleased with his performance tonight.”