*Jasper vs. Abliene Wylie 7 PM Wednesday*

[indian01]

Wylie advances second straight state tourney

By Jacob Brown (Contact)

Saturday, June 2, 2007

MIDLAND - For the first time in school history, the Wylie baseball team is state-bound for the second year in a row.

After losing Game 2 of the best-of-three series against Lubbock Cooper 9-5 in the first contest of Friday afternoon's doubleheader at Citibank Ballpark, the Bulldogs defeated the Pirates 8-3 to become the Region I-3A champions.

''It's great to be returning to Austin with this group of kids, and I think they showed a lot of character today,'' Wylie coach Clay Martin said. ''It's tough anytime you lose Game 2 of a three-game series and to be able to keep it in perspective and bounce back. I think this shows how they've approached it all along, that we came to play a series and not one game.''

Leading 2-1 heading into the top of the fourth inning of Game 3, the Bulldogs added two more runs when Cory Davis hit a one-out double and scored on a single by Landon Lindley, who came across the plate two batters later on a Derek Saltzgaber single.

But Cooper got one run back in the bottom of the frame and was looking for more in the fifth.

With two outs and a man on second, Trey Parrish hit a grounder to Davis at third base, and his throw missed the mark to put runners on the corners for Ryan Hughes. He responded with a bloop single to shallow left that brought a run home and made the score 4-3.

Pitcher Chance Bragg entered the game in relief of starter Mason Macnoll and walked the first batter he faced on four pitches to load the bases, then ran the count to 3-1 to the next before being pulled for Davis.

The senior, who pitched a complete game to win the series opener the previous night, atoned for his error earlier in the inning by inducing a popup on his first pitch to end the threat and preserve the lead. He went on to finish the game and allowed only two hits in 2 1/3 innings.

''It was just an unbelievable performance,'' Martin said. ''It's a gutsy job to come back after throwing the game (Thursday), especially in the situation he had to come in to and get the job done.''

The Bulldogs scored four more runs in the top of the seventh for good measure, including RBI singles by Josh Hilliard and Davis, before Davis struck out the last two batters to put an exclamation point on the series.

In the first game Friday, Wylie just ran out of comebacks.

The Bulldogs erased deficits of 1-0, 4-1 and 5-4 but never took the lead and could not answer after the Pirates scored four runs in the top of the seventh.

With the score tied at 5, one out and runners on first and second, Wylie catcher Martin Burleson attempted to pick off the man on first, but his throw missed the mark and allowed pinch runner Tim Salazar to score what proved to be the game-winning run.

Cooper added insurance with an RBI double by second baseman Charlie Finch – who went 4-for-4 with a walk and three runs – and a two-run single with the bases loaded by David Cooper.

The Pirates registered at least one hit in every inning, and all but one were singles. They strung together enough, though, to put nine runs across the plate.

The Bulldogs got good offensive performances in Game 2 from Nathan Saltzgaber, who went 4-for-5 with three runs scored, and Macnoll, who hit two RBI doubles and scored a run.

Wylie still had enough left in the tank to win the deciding Game 3, and senior Nathan Saltzgaber said it was likely due to the team's playoff experience.

''We were relaxed, knew what we had to do, knew we had to play another game,'' he said. ''So we kind of shook the last game off and came out and played better.''

Next up for the Bulldogs is the state tournament at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, with the semifinals being played Wednesday and the championship game at 7 p.m. Thursday.

''We're pretty excited to go,'' said Nathan Saltzgaber, who was a member of the 2006 team that fell in the semifinals. ''We went there last year, and now we get to go back again. It's something that we've never done before. Hopefully experience will help out.''

• Lubbock Cooper 9, Wylie 5

Game 2

Lubb. Cooper 100 211 4-9 17 4

Wylie 001 031 0-5 10 1

Nathan Parrish, Tanner Langston (5), Maxx Pope (7) and Ryan Hughes. Michael Strong, Landon Lindley (6), Stephen Struve (7) and Martin Burleson. W – Langston (1-1). L – Lindley (3-1). 2B – Cooper: Charlie Finch; Wylie: Mason Macnoll 2.

• Wylie 8, Lubbock Cooper 3

Game 3

Wylie 101 200 4-8 14 2

Lubb. Cooper 100 110 0-3 7 2

Mason Macnoll, Chance Bragg (5), Cory Davis (5) and Martin Burleson. Maxx Pope, Taylor Snodgrass (4), Tanner Langston (7) and Ryan Hughes. W – Macnoll (6-0). L – Pope (6-2). 2B – Wylie: Josh Hilliard, Davis; Cooper: David Cooper 2, Tyler Sutton.

Records – Wylie 33-3-1, Cooper 28-12.

[indian01]

Wylie outlasts Cooper for trip to state baseball tourney

BY George Watson

AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

MIDLAND - The Cooper baseball team came up one pitcher short of a trip to the UIL state tournament.

Forced to use all available pitching resources just to force a third game of its Region I-3A series, Cooper coach Terry Baxter had little else available once the Pirates got there. Second-ranked Abilene Wylie took advantage by forging an early lead and putting the game away with four runs late in an 8-3 series-clinching victory Friday.

Cooper won the second game of the series, 9-5, earlier in the day.

"I don't know that anybody outside of us expected us to be here," Baxter said. "We went toe to toe with the No. 2 team in the state for 20 innings and had one bad inning all weekend. We battled our way back into the third game, but in the seventh it just got away from us."

The Pirates' season ends at 29-12.

Cooper held the lead three times in the first game of the day but could hold none of them. Finally, after a four-run seventh inning put the Pirates up 9-5, Baxter went to junior Maxx Pope to close out the win, and he did just that.

But it came with a price as his 22 pitches in that game took away from his effectiveness as the Game 3 starter. With Charlie Finch limited to infield duty due to an injured shoulder, Baxter turned to Pope, but he lasted just 31/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk with a strikeout.

Baxter pulled Pope (6-2) with one out in the fourth and went to Thursday starter Taylor Snodgrass, who threw 122 pitches in a 3-1 loss. Snodgrass kept the game close and allowed the Pirates to pull to within 4-3 but they self-destructed in the seventh.

Snodgrass hit the leadoff batter, threw late to second on a sacrifice bunt and wildly to first on another, then allowed a run-scoring single as Wylie pushed its lead to 6-3. Davis pushed another run across with a single, and a bunt by Landon Lindley finished the scoring for an 8-3 advantage.

Wylie ace Cory Davis, who picked up the win on Thursday, finished off the series with a scoreless seventh. He came in with the bases loaded, two outs, and a 3-1 count and needed just one pitch to end the threat. He finished with 21/3 innings of scoreless relief to give starter Mason Macnoll (6-0) the victory.

"Both teams had to bring back their starters from Game 1, and you know, Cooper did a great job all day battling and I think our kids did, too," Wylie coach Clay Martin said. "It showed a lot of character in the last game to get the job done. Cory, the situation in which he entered the game, he did a phenomenal job of getting us out of that inning, and then being able to close the game out."

He also did a good job limiting a Cooper offense that racked up 17 hits off of three Wylie pitchers in the first game of the day. The Pirates continued to smoke the ball in the third game, but this time it was right at fielders, as several hard shots found their way into Wylie gloves instead of the outfield.

"We were hitting the ball real well, we were just hitting it right at them," said senior David Cooper, who had a two-run single in the seventh of Game 2 that helped clinch the win, and then had a pair of doubles in Game 3.

"We battled and battled and that's what we're always going to do, and we did that (Friday). Things just didn't fall our way."

CLASS 3A REGION I FINAL

At Citibank Ballpark, Midland

Game 2

COOPER 9, WYLIE 5

Cooper 100 211 4 - 9 17 4

Wylie 001 031 0 - 5 10 1

N. Parrish, Langston (5), Pope (7) and Hughes; Strong, Lindley (6), Struve (7) and Burleson. W-Langston (1-1); L-Lindley (3-1). 2B-Cooper, Finch; Wylie, Macnoll 2. Records-Cooper 29-11; Wylie 32-3-1.

Game 3

WYLIE 8, COOPER 3

Wylie 101 200 4 - 8 14 2

Cooper 100 110 0 - 3 7 2

Macnoll, Bragg (5), Davis (5) and Burleson; Pope, Snodgrass (4), Langston (7) and Hughes. W-Macnoll (6-0). L-Pope (6-2). 2B-Wylie, Davis; Cooper, Cooper 2, Sutton. Records-Wylie 33-3-1; Cooper 29-12.

[DP#1FAN]

Best of luck to Jasper!  Bring it home!

[j_dog]

I guess I'm missing the boat here.  If LE loses a game, I will not call them losers.  However, I will not call them champions.  I would congradulate them on a great season and wish them well in all their future endeavors.  All four teams are great teams and represent their regions accordingly.  I think that the jest of this thread was that a 3 game series is the best way to determine the best team.  (Unless I have this thread confused with another!)  I guess a would argue that that only proves who has the most depth in pitching.  Guess it really doesn't matter since it will be only one game and then a Champion will be crowned.

Semantics.  Gee.  I did not say the ones who lost games would be champions.  I said they would be winners for being there.  You appeared to disagree.  If they are not winners, they are losers are they not?  I prefer to think they will be winners.  Which they are, and will be.

[sharkb8er]

Ok, they will all be winners.  ONly one will be the champion at the state tournament.  You can call the other three teams what ever makes you feel warm and fuzzy.  Besides, their record in baseball has no bearing on if they are truely winners.  JMO

[BroncoFan1]

Congrats to Jasper and Justin Parsons.........from your old Vipers teammates from Dayton!

[j_dog]

Sorry I can't ride with you on that one.  Yes, after the tournament there will be only one team crowned State Champion.  Have they all had great winning seasons,  yes!  Don't believe this is T-ball where everybody is a winner though.   If that was the case we wouldn't have the state tournament. 

------------

I guess I'm missing the boat here.  If LE loses a game, I will not call them losers.  However, I will not call them champions.  I would congradulate them on a great season and wish them well in all their future endeavors. 

------------

Ok, they will all be winners.  ONly one will be the champion at the state tournament.  You can call the other three teams what ever makes you feel warm and fuzzy.  Besides, their record in baseball has no bearing on if they are truely winners.  JMO

glad we got that straight!  ;D  Good luck in your first game at state. 

[PoppaBearstarr]

Good luck Jasper Bring it home to your town and our District, you have repped us well all year so from all of the HJ fans we will be routing for you.

[astrosfreak09]

A Site from a Newspaper in Abilene:

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I haven't looked at a lot of it, but if you don't know anything about them you can read some of the articles and find some stuff out...