WOODROW – Riley Hood drove in four runs, and Brooks Gay tossed a four-hitter as Wylie beat Canyon Randall 9-1 in the opener of the Region I-5A quarterfinal baseball series Thursday at Pirate Field.
Wylie (24-7) can sweep by winning Game 2 at 12:30 p.m. Friday at Pirate Field. Game 3, if needed, will be played 30 minutes afterward.
The series’ winner plays the Aledo-Mansfield Timberview winner in the region semifinals next week.
Wylie got all the runs it needed in the first inning. Balin Valentine led off with a walk and scored on Hood’s one-out triple. Hood scored on Jaxson Hansen’s sacrifice fly to center.
Landon Williams pushed the lead to 3-0 with a leadoff home run in the second inning.
Randall (22-14-1) got its lone run in the bottom of the second. Taylor McDaniel hit a two-out single, and A.J. Lucero chased him home with a double.
The Bulldogs added a run in the third as J.T. Thompson scored on Hansen’s sacrifice fly. Thompson and Hood hit consecutive singles to set up the score.
Hood made it 7-1 with a two-run double in the fourth, after Reed Hughes scored on a wild pitch. Hughes and Valentine both walked in the inning, and Thompson reached on a single to load the bases with one out.
The Bulldogs got their final two runs in the sixth.
Valentine led off the inning with a walk, took second on a wild pitch and third on a one-out steal. He scored on Hood’s sacrifice fly. Hansen followed with a single and scored on Garrett Graham’s triple.
Gay went the distance for the victory. He struck out eight and walked none.
Randall starter Dylan Chayne took the loss, allowing four runs on four hits in three innings. He walked two and struck out one. Three other pitchers finished the game for the Raiders.
Wylie has given up a total of five runs in going 4-0 in the playoffs thus far.
El Paso Andress is the only team to score more than a run against the Bulldogs in the postseason, losing 3-2 in a one-game playoff last week in Fort Stockton.
