Frankston, Slocun, Neches, Oakwood into round two
May 6—The Frankston Indians, Neches Tigers, Slocum Mustangs and Oakwood Panthers will all be moving on to the second round of the University Interscholastic League's baseball playoffs, as each team earned a bi-district championship over the weekend.
The Frankston Indians punched their ticket into the second round with a two-game sweep of the Overton Mustangs, winning both games by a score of 8-7. Frankston was led by Conlan LeMay, who churned out a pair of doubles in both contests with the Mustangs, and pitched 2.2 innings of relief in game one, allowing one hit and striking out three.
Frankston will be advancing to play Ore City, and details for the series will be made available when possible.
Neches is advancing to play Sulphur Bluff, with game one between the pair set at noon, May 11, at Tyler Legacy High School.
Neches earned their way into the next round with a complete dismantling over Leverttt's Chapel, defeating the Lions by a combined score of 35-4.
Slocum had to fight to make the second round, winning their series with the Apple Springs Eagles two-games to one.
Slocum took game one of the series 11-2, but suffered a loss in game two 5-1. In game three, the Mustangs would go down big through the first four innings of play, at one point trailing 9-3, but would rally in the top of the fifth for five runs, and explode in the top of the seventh and final inning for eight runs, sealing their fates to continue on with a 16-11 win.
Slocum will next see the Brookland Bears, with the first game slated for 6:30 p.m., May 10 at Nacogdoches High School.
And finally, the Oakwood Panthers are also moving on, as they blasted the Kennard Tigers 17-3, and 18-8 to earn their bi-district championship.
The Panthers have had to be resilient all year long, as weather and school scheduling has severely affected the practice and play time of the Panthers. But they have not allowed that to become an excuse, and now will play the Chester Yellowjackets for an area championship. Game one with Chester is scheduled for a 5 p.m. first pitch May 10, and will be played at Hudson High School in Lufkin.
