Rockwall-Heath, Rockwall advance to region semifinals in baseball
May 23—Still alive.
That's the story for the 33-7 Rockwall-Heath Hawks' baseball team and 27-10-2 Rockwall Yellowjackets' baseball team.
Both teams are alive and thriving in the state baseball playoffs and are only one series win away from meeting in the Region II-6A finals for the third time in four years.
Heath's Hawks were to take on 30-11 Bridgeland in the region baseball semifinals and the 27-10-2 Yellowjackets were to play 35-3 Tomball in the region baseball semifinals.
Heath 5
Mansfield Legacy 1
Heath wrapped up its regional quarterfinal series with Mansfield Legacy, winning game two 5-1 after taking game one 11-8.
Landon Ammerman pitched a complete game for the Hawks against Legacy in game two, allowing two hits and one earned run with five strikeouts.
Hunter Bulin drove in two runs for the Hawks and Alex Cooley and Parker Ivy both collected two hits. Jabin Moore and Caleb Hoover both had hits for the Hawks and scored runs. Drew Smith and Westin Thompson also had hits.
Bulin, Hoover, Moore and Ivy all pounded two hits in the 11-8 win. Bulin drove in four runs and Hoover drove in three. Cooley scored three runs and Moore and Brady Ladusau both scored two runs.
Heath used five pitchers: Ethan Atchley, Jack Sharp, Kolton Flowers, Hoover and Maddox Webb. They combined for 12 strikeouts.
Bridgeland was third in 16-6A behind Cypress Ranch and Cypress Woods with a 10-4 record. The Bears have won their playoff series over Klein Oak (3-1, 3-2), the Woodlands (1-0, 1-11, 7-6) and Klein Oak (2-0, 3-13, 9-3).
The two teams were to play their regional semifinal playoff series at Concordia University in Austin, starting on Thursday.
Rockwall 5
Midway 4
Dylan Cheek drove in a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning to give Rockwall a 5-4 win over Waco Midway in the decisive game three of their regional quarterfinal series.
Rockwall took game one of the series 3-0. Midway bounced back to win game two, 6-3.
Keller Lindeman shut out Midway on seven hits in game one. He walked two and struck out five.
Tristan Riley doubled to drive in two runs for Rockwall in that win and Hudson Holt singled to bring home another run.
Landyn Locke and Jake Overstreet drove in two runs each in the Jackets' 5-4 win and Cheek drove in one run. Charles Mahaffey had a hit and scored two runs.
Brandon Hutchings and Vince Estrada shared the pitching duties for Rockwall in the 5-4 win, allowing six hits with three strikeouts.
Overstreet drove in two runs to lead Rockwall in the 6-3 loss. Locke and Pearson Riebock both had two hits and Riebock scored two runs.
Tomball entered the series with a 23-game winning streak. The Cougars won District 15-6A with a 14-0 record. They swept Cypress Falls (6-1, 11-0), Grand Oaks (11-0, 2-0) and Willis (5-4, 1-0) in their three playoff series.
All three of their regional semifinal playoff series games were scheduled for Lake Belton High School in Temple, starting on Thursday.
State Baseball Playoffs
Class 6A bi-district playoffs
Best-of-three: Rockwall 5, Wylie East 0; Rockwall 8, Wylie East 3.
Best-of-three: Rockwall-Heath 6, Rowlett 2; Rockwall-Heath 5, Rowlett 0.
Class 6A area playoffs
Best-of-three: Rockwall-Heath 7, Mansfield Lake Ridge 2; Rockwall-Heath 5, Mansfield Lake Ridge 4.
Best of three: Rockwall 9, Mansfield 1; Rockwall 2, Mansfield 0.
Class 6A regional quarterfinals
Best-of-three: Rockwall-Heath 11, Mansfield Legacy 8; Rockwall-Heath 5, Mansfield Legacy 1.
Best-of-three: Rockwall 3, Waco Midway 0; Waco Midway 6, Rockwall 3; Rockwall 5, Waco Midway 4.
Class 6A regional semifinals
Rockwall-Heath vs. Bridgeland, Best-of-three: Game 1, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Concordia University in Austin; Game 2, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Concordia University; Game 3 (if necessary), Noon Saturday, Concordia University.
Rockwall vs. Tomball: Best-of-three: Game 1, 7 p.m. Thursday, Lake Belton H.S. in Temple; Game 2, 7 p.m. Friday, Lake Belton; Game 3 (if necessary), Noon Saturday, Lake Belton.
