Hawks rout Melissa, will move on
PLANO, Texas—This time, the early bird did, indeed, get the worm.
After piling on a bus at daybreak, spending hours preparing the field, sitting through a three-hour rain delay and preparing the field again, Pleasant Grove made short work of Melissa, cruising to a 19-4 win to capture a Class 4A Region II semifinal title Saturday at John Paul II Field.
PG pounded out 17 hits and took advantage of five errors to end Melissa’s Cinderella season at 14-16. The road will get much tougher next week when Pleasant Grove (26-3) will face Argyle (26-7, a 2014 state finalist) for the region crown and a trip to Austin. The Hawks will be seeking their seventh regional title in eight years.
This game was about offense, and Melissa was unable to keep pace with the Hawks’ slugfest. The first was the only inning in which PG did not score. Pleasant Grove sent 11 batters to the plate in the second and plated seven, and sent 12 to the plate and scored eight in the fifth to put the game away and stay unbeaten in seven playoff games.
“Our guys did a great job of finding their pitch when they had positive counts and driving the ball into the gaps,” Hawks coach Riley Fincher said.
Leading the hit parade was Hudson Hopkins, who had three hits, including a triple to the gap in right, a pair of RBI and scored twice. Catcher Mark Ashby had three hits, including a two-RBI double, and set up courtesy runner Vashon Willliams to score three times.
Third baseman Blake Roberts had three hits, a pair of RBI and scored twice. Shortstop Joe Pearlman had a pair of hits, three RBI and scored twice. Right fielder A.J. Snyder had two hits, including an RBI triple, and scored twice.
Though he didn’t have his best stuff Saturday, PG’s staff ace Jarrod Bayless ran his record to 10-0, throwing 69 pitches in a game halted after five innings by the mercy rule. Bayless struck out six
but gave up seven hits, usually after falling behind in the count.
“It was not his best performance, but he hung in there, filling up the strike zone and letting our defense make plays behind him,” Fincher said.
Cardinal leadoff hitter Dean Youngblood opened the third with a single. Cory Reagan followed with a hard smash to the left side. Roberts flagged it down and whipped the ball to second to cut down Youngblood. Jacob Smith’s relay to first went wide, but Ashby sprinted down from his catcher’s position and fired to Pearlman at short. Reagan slid on a farm pond in front of second and hydroplaned past the bag.
Pearlman was after him, so Reagan took off for third, which was uncovered because Roberts was backing up the throw to second. Pearlman gave chase as Bayless sprinted over from the mound toward third. At the last moment, Pearlman flipped the ball to Bayless, whose hard tag sent Regan sprawling to the turf.
It went down in the book as another routine 5-4-2-6-1 double play. Credit the pitcher with a tackle.
Melissa scored three times in the fourth, but it could have been worse had Snyder not stolen a double with two on, running down Paul Manrufo’s line shot to make a waist-high catch in the gap in right.
Both teams battled the water hazard at second. Jacob Smith stole second in the fourth, but slid past the bag into centerfield and was tagged out.
Fittingly, the game ended when Melissa’s John Gresett tried to steal and slid past second. He was tagged out by Pearlman.
“This team did a great job of staying focused after getting on a bus at 6 a.m., taking a threehour ride and then delay after delay,” Fincher said.
“Next week, we’ll have to play our best ball of the season, without a doubt.” he said. “Argyle is a great team from a great program.”