Hawks blast Lindale, 17-0
PG wins series
MARSHALL, Texas — Pleasant Grove left no doubt.
The Hawks batted around – twice – in the first inning, putting up 13 runs before Lindale ever got to bat en route to a 17-0 win and a seat among the Elite Eight of the Texas Class 4A baseball tournament.
Pleasant Grove, 29- 51, ranked No. 6 in the last coaches’ poll, taken May 8, will next face No. 2 Celina (32-4) in the regional semifinals. Celina ousted Waxahachie Life in two games.
Lindale, champions of a tough District 16-4A and undefeated in the playoffs, played PG to a 3-3 tie back on March 10. It was clear from the size and enthusiasm of the Lindale crowd that it expected these games at East Texas Baptist University’s brick-lined, postcard-pretty Tiger Ballpark to be close games, too.
The young Hawks, who start four freshmen, two sophomores and only one senior, had a different idea. Outscoring the Eagles 293 in two games, Pleasant Grove was dominant in all three phases of the game: patient and purposeful at the plate, fundamentally sound on defense and solid on the mound.
A trio of PG pitchers made sure Lindale never came close to scoring. Starter Hunter Rose was again dominant, surrendering but one hit in three scoreless innings. Luke Flanagan gave up an infield single but did not allow another runner to reach base in his one scoreless inning. Senior Hunter Digby, in many ways the team’s emotional leader, gave up a hit and a walk but struck out Lindale’s best hitter, shortstop Kaden Fleming on a frozen-rope fastball to end the game.
Friday, the first nine hitters reached base and Pleasant Grove chased Lindale starter Hudson Legrow after 1/3 inning. He gave up six hits, walked one, hit one and was charged with 11 runs, nine earned.
Reliever Luke Waggoner fared only slightly better against PG’S potent lineup, walking two, letting two runs score on wild pitches and another when he muffed a slow roller to the mound.
The first half-inning consumed 47 minutes and somewhere in the there the normally raucous Lindale crowd fell silent.
In the meantime, the Hawk defense delivered gems to keep its crowd in the game. In the first inning, senior shortstop JM Long went onto the center field grass to chase down a ground ball and throw out Lindale’s Jake Powell by an eyelash. Sophomore second baseman Jacob Halter did the same to Ty Mccoy in the third.
In the second, Ryan Betts, who had walked, tried to reach third on in a single to center field and junior Brenton Clark gunned him down with 3 feet to spare. In the fourth, Betts laced a Texas leaguer that looked certain to get down in short center, but Clark snared it with a shoestring catch.
Every starter in the Pleasant Grove lineup scored at least once. Long led the offensive onslaught with two hits, three RBIS and three runs. Cade Martin had three hits and three RBIS. Buck Anderson walked three times and scored three runs.