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Thursday, June 11
This time, opportunity knocks-Texas High answers

photo;Byers/H5AB "WE ARE THERE"

This time, opportunity knocks-Texas High answers

Tigers defeat Moody, 4-3, for 4A title

By LONNIE KING

© 2009, Houston5ABaseball.com

For the Moody Trojans, opportunity knocked often on their road to the state championship and they always were ready to answer. In the Class 4A state championship game, the Texarkana Texas Tigers beat them to the door. Texas High defeated the Moody Trojans, 4-3, on Thursday at Dell Diamond to win the school's first-ever baseball state championship.

In a game where both teams were limited in scoring opportunities, Texas High managed to capitalize on one when it mattered most. The Tigers pushed across a run in the top of the seventh to break a 3-3 tie.

With Moody ace Justin Meza on the hill in relief of starter Andy Cantu, the Tigers bunched together three of their four hits in the game to produce the critical run. Hunter Allday led off the seventh with a single and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Chris Dudley. Texas High head coach Glenn Welch then opted to bring in sophomore Levi Saxby to pinch-run for Allday.

Logan Preston followed with a single to right that moved Saxby to third and Nate Sorenson singled to left to deliver Saxby and a 4-3 lead. Through the first six innings, Moody pitching had held the Tigers to one hit.

Texas High took an early lead without the benefit of a hit. Sorenson led off the game with a walk and Cantu followed by hitting the next two batters, Carlton Bailey and Slade Heathcott, with pitches to load the bases. Moody momentarily avoided trouble when Josh Turley grounded to first baseman Justin Perales, who forced Sorenson at the plate.

But, Caleb Adams followed with a ground ball to second baseman Gerardo Gutierrez that wasn't hit hard enough to turn a double play. Gutierrez forced Turley at second, but Bailey scored to give Texas High a 1-0 lead.

The Trojans were poised to answer in the bottom of the first, when Marcus Villanueva walked and Rudy Flores doubled with one out, but Tiger starter Randall Fant retired Meza and Michael Franco to end the threat.

Texas High posted to more runs in the third with just one hit. Bailey walked to lead off the inning and Heathcott followed with his second triple of the tournament and fifth RBI. Turley drove Heathcott home with a ground out to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third, Fant would get into another jam. A.J. Longoria led off with a single and, similar to Cantu's first inning, Fant then hit Christian Gallegos and Villanueva with pitches to load the bases. But again it appeared that Fant would work his way out of trouble by striking out Flores and Meza.

Franco hit a ground ball to shortstop Caleb Dudley. Dudley, attempting to force the runner at second base threw wildly into right field, bringing home two runs on the error. Franco then took it upon himself to see that the tying run came home as well.

At first base with Perales at the plate, Franco allowed himself to get caught in a rundown attempting to steal second that allowed Matthew McGraw, running for Villanueva to score from third and tie the game at 3-3.

From that point, it appeared momentum might have swung back in favor of the Trojans. Cantu retired the side in order in both the fourth and fifth innings and struck out four of the six batters he faced.

Fant was pitching solidly as well. After retiring Moody in order in the fourth, he allowed a leadoff walk to Longoria in the fifth, but fielded an attempted sacrifice bunt by Gallegos to force Longoria at second. Two more ground outs ended the Trojan opportunity.

When Cantu walked Turley to start the sixth, Moody head coach Corky Gallegos went to Meza, who had started and won the semifinal game a day earlier. Meza coaxed a fielder's choice and a double play ground out to end the Tigers' threat.

Moody would see another opportunity slip away when Meza led off the sixth with a single and was sacrificed to second. Perales hit an opposite-field fly ball down the right field line that Turley made a running catch on moving away from the infield. But Meza did not tag and advance to third on the play. Fant struck out Randy Rodriguez to end the inning, setting the stage for the Tigers' seventh-inning heroics.

With a one-run lead, Welch called on Heathcott, a first-round draft pick of the New York Yankees on Tuesday, to close out the game. Sidelined earlier in the year while first recovering from knee surgery and then from a shoulder injury, Heathcott was making his first mound appearance of the season.

Kyle Munguia, pinch-hitting for Gutierrez, took a called third strike to start the inning. Longoria, the team's No. 9 hitter, reached for the third time in the game with a walk. But Heathcott got back-to-back ground outs by Gallegos and Villanueva to seal the victory.

Fant, who went six innings and allowed no earned runs while striking out six, picked up the win and was awarded the MVP trophy afterward.

With the victory, Texas High wins its first state championship in the school's third trip to the state tournament. The Tigers' last previous trip to Austin was in 1982.

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