Tigers defeat Razorbacks; Leopards fall to Longview
TEXARKANA, Texas — Texas High earned a 9-7 victory over Arkansas High on the second day of the Texas High Border Battle baseball tournament on Friday.
Longview defeated Atlanta, 7-3, in the first game of the day, and run-ruled Liberty-Eylau, 14-2, in their second game.
Today’s action features Liberty-Eylau taking on Arkansas High at 10 a.m., Liberty-Eylau rumbles with Atlanta at 12:30 p.m. and Texas High faces Atlanta at 3 p.m.
Texas High 9, Arkansas High 7
The Tigers scored five runs in the third en route to a victory over the Razorbacks in a crosstown rivalry game. The game ended after 4 1/2 innings due to time limit (an hour and 45 minutes).
Jackson Halter walked and courtesy runner Krockett White
was subbed in for Halter for Texas High in the third frame. Luke Smith smacked a single, and White moved up to third on a wild pitch. Nathan Steele walked to juice the bases, and White scored as Nate Mennie reached first on a dropped third strike.
Caden Miller was hit by a pitch to load the bases for the Tigers’ lead-off hitter Ben DePriest. DePriest drove in three runs when he doubled to right field to give the Tigers a 7-4 lead.
Graydon Martin doubled deep to center for Arkansas High with an out in the fourth inning. Martin later scored on a wild pitch to cut Texas High’s lead to 7-5.
Robert Cheney doubled for the Tigers with two outs in the fourth to score Smith, who had walked. Cheney moved up to third on a passed ball and scored on Steele’s single down the right-field line. Texas High went into the fifth with a 9-5 edge.
Jackson Tye, who reached on an error, scored on a Tiger throwing error to close the gap, 9-6, in the fifth. Shane Sutton had an RBI single in the frame for Arkansas High to make it 9-7. The game ended on a fielder’s choice.
Martin led off the top of the first for Arkansas High with a double to right field. Martin moved up to third on a passed ball and scored on a passed ball to give the Razorbacks an early 1-0 lead.
Trey Lavender, who had walked, scored on a wild pitch to knot the game at 1-all for the Tigers. Halter walked, and courtesy runner White scored on a passed ball to give Texas High a 2-1 lead. White had moved up to second and then third each on a wild pitch.
Arkansas High built a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the third. Martin walked, moved up to second on a wild pitch, landed on third after an error and scored on a wild pitch. Braylon Bishop, who got on base due to an error, scored on a passed ball to give the Razorbacks a 3-2 edge. Darby Sawyer slapped a 1-run single to make it 4-2.
Longview 14, Liberty-Eylau 2
Connor Cox slugged a walkoff grand slam in the fifth frame as the Lobos earned a 14-2, run-rule victory over Liberty-Eylau. The winning runs scored with two outs.
Longview put up five runs in the fifth on three hits. Ron Garza doubled for the Leopards in the fifth and scored on an error to make it a 9-2 affair.
Bellatti slapped an RBI single to left center to score courtesy runner Krayson Battle to give Liberty-Eylau a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Battle ran for Colby Brooks, who had singled to left center.
Longview responded with an RBI triple by Jordan Allen to knot the game at 1-all in the first. Allen scored on a passed ball to give the Lobos a 2-1 lead.
Bellatti singled with two outs in the third but was left stranded. Longview extended its lead on an RBI double by Gabe Flores and an RBI triple by Cox, 4-1. Cox scored on a Leopard error and another run scored on an error to make it 6-1.