H.S. Baseball: Abilene High sweeps away Amarillo High in playoff return
WOODROW – The Abilene High baseball team is in the playoffs for the first time since going two rounds in 2018, and they’re not ready to stop just yet.
Rylen Stokes and Trey Simpson combined for seven RBIs, while Jamison Castel threw 5⅔ strong innings in relief as the Eagles blasted Amarillo High 13-4 on Saturday to sweep the best-of-three Region I-5A bi-district playoff series at Lubbock-Cooper High School.
The Eagles, who won the opener 6-5 on Friday, scored six runs in the second inning and finished the game with 13 hits.
Abilene High (16-16) plays El Paso Ysleta (16-14-2) in the second round in Fort Stockton. Game 1 is 5 p.m. Friday, while Game 2 is 10 a.m. Saturday. If needed, Game 3 will be played after Game 2.
Ysleta, the District 2 runner-up, swept El Paso Burges 10-7 and 1-0.
The AHS/Ysleta winner draws the Lubbock-Cooper (22-15)/Clint Horizon (15-12-1) winner in the region quarterfinals.
Castel, who relieved starter Connel Colley in the second inning on Saturday, allowed a run on three hits. He struck out three and walked one. Colley gave up three runs on one hit in 1⅓ innings. He walked four.
Stokes (2-for-3) led the Eagles with four RBIs, while Simpson (3-4) had three RBIs. Beckham Paul (2-3, double, triple) had two RBIs.
Brady Bennett (2-4, double, two runs) and Saul Vasquez (2-3, three runs) also contributed the Eagles’ offense.
Stokes’ three-run triple highlighted the big second inning. Paul added a two-run triple in a three-run fourth. Simpson had a two-run single in a three-run fifth. Max Regalado stole home with two outs in the seventh.
Connor Haelzle led the Sandies (18-12-2), the District 3 champions, with two RBIs. Five Amarillo High pitchers combined to strike out seven and walk five.
In the opener on Friday, Jake Breckenridge’s RBI single snapped a 5-5 tie in the sixth inning. Simpson’s RBI single tied the game a batter earlier.
Stokes’ two-out, RBI single put the Eagles up 1-0 in the second, but the Sandies scored three in the third.
Breckenridge tied the game with a two-run double in the bottom of the third, and Vasquez added an RBI double in the fourth for a 4-3 lead.
The Sandies took the lead with a two-run fifth.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene High ousts Amarillo High from Class 5A baseball playoffs
