EULA – Behind their 14th consecutive victory, the No. 7 May Tigers captured Game 1 of their Class A Region I baseball area playoff series over the No. 9 Ira Bulldogs, 5-4, in 10 innings Wednesday afternoon.
May (15-1), which had its last two postseason runs ended by Ira (13-4), can advance to the third round of the playoffs with a victory in Game 2 at 7 p.m. Thursday back in Eula. Game 3, if needed, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Abilene Christian High School.
Knotted at 4 in the bottom of the 10th inning, Brody Stice’s two-out RBI infield single with the bases loaded plated Jackson Lusk with the decisive run for the Tigers.
The May 10th inning began with a leadoff single by Lusk, then Maddix Raffel walked. With two down, Lane Goodson singled to left field to extend the inning, load the bases, and bring Stice up the plate.
Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Tigers rallied as Goodson singled with one, then stole second base and third base ahead of Stice reaching on one of two Ira miscues in the game, with allowed the fourth May run to cross the plate.
Ira grabbed a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth when Jerick Olvera was hit by a pitch to start the frame, Hudson Luft singled with one out and Brandt Cox then walked to fill the sacks. Christian Coy was then plunked to drive home the fourth run, but May relief pitcher Kobey Morris retired the next two batters to keep the Tigers within striking distance.
The Tigers were one out away from clinching the Game 1 victory in regulation, as with two outs in the top of the seventh, Ira drew even at 3 as Coy singled to left field to drive home Cox, who doubled in the previous at-bat.
The Tigers surged in front, 3-2, in the bottom of the third inning as Cayson Dail drew a leadoff walk and Goodson followed with a single to center field. With one out and runners on second and third base, Morris and Kaden Watkins recorded back-to-back RBI doubles that plated Dail and Goodson with the tying and go-ahead runs.
May grabbed a 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the first as Goodson singled with one out, moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Stice, and scored on Morris’ two-out RBI single up the middle.
For Ira, the Bulldogs initially tied the game at 1 in the top of the second inning on a balk by Goodson that allowed Noah Preston, who singled with one out, to score.
In the top of the third inning, Ira grabbed a brief 2-1 lead as Cox and Coy singled with one out, then Keevan Santos walked to load the bases. An RBI fielder’s choice by Preston produced the lone run as Goodson retired the last batter of the inning on a strikeout to escape further damage.
The Tigers finished with 14 hits off the Ira pitchers Santos and Preston – four by Goodson, three by Morris, two by Lusk, and one apiece by Dail, Watkins, Hunter Seider and Kayden Psencik. May also drew five walks.
On the mound, Goodson got the start for May and tossed 6.2 innings, yielding three runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Morris, Seider and Dail worked the next 3.1 innings in relief and combined to surrender one run on one hit with five strikeouts and two walks.
The series winner will move on to face either Hamlin (14-1-1) or Hermleigh (6-3) in the regional semifinals next week.