FORT STOCKTON – Reed Hughes’ two-out, RBI triple snapped a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning, and Wylie hung on to beat El Paso Andress 3-2 in a one-game area baseball playoff Friday at Panther Baseball Field.
The Bulldogs (23-7) advance to play either Canutillo or Canyon Randall in the Region I-5A quarterfinals next week.
Balin Valentine slid under the tag on Jaxon Hansen’s fielder’s choice ground ball to third to put Wylie up 1-0 in the first inning, and Balentine scored on Riley Hood’s two-out single in the second for a 2-0 lead.
Brooks Gay took over for Wylie starter Dash Albus to start the fifth, and Jose Rosales greeted him with a single. Aaron Bazan then came up with an RBI double. Bazan took third on the throw to first on a dropped third strike to Gonzales and scored on a wild pitch, tying the game at 2.
Landon Williams came up with one-out double in the fifth, and Hughes chased him home with a two-out triple for a 3-2 lead.
Albus got the win, allowing a hit and three walks while striking out four in four innings. Gay collected the save, giving up two runs on two hits. He struck four and walked one.
Andress starter Julius Ryan took the loss. He gave up three runs on four hits. Ryan struck out three and walked four in 4⅔ innings. Bazan worked the final 1⅓ innings. He gave up two hits, including Hughes’ game-winner, walked one and struck out one.
(The story will be updated later)
Joey D. Richards covers Abilene high schools and colleges, Big Country schools and other local sports. Follow him at Twitter at ARN_Joey. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.
