Friendswood diamondmen advance to 5A state tournament
June 7, 2022
FRIENDSWOOD — The journey continues for the Friendswood baseball as they swept the Lake Creek Lions 4-1 and 8-3 to win the Class 5A Region III title and punch their ticket to the Class 5A state baseball tournament at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.
“We’ve had a target on our backs since last year, and I’m so proud of these guys,” Friendswood head baseball coach Cory Benavides said. “The ups and downs that we’ve been through this year, it prepared us for now. And it showed — we were calm, relaxed, and that’s what I asked for.”
In Game 1 -- Lake Creek took an early 1-0 lead, but the Mustangs responded by scoring four runs in the fourth frame after a lackluster first three frames.
The Mustangs exploded on offense as they batted around in the inning. A one-out single from Dane Perry breaking up Shane Sdao’s no-hitter got things started for Friendswood.
With two outs, three consecutive walks drawn by Collin Goolsby, Ayden Pearcy and Black (RBI) knotted the score 1-1. Kyle Lockhart stroked an RBI single to left field to give Friendswood a 2-1 lead, and then the Mustangs were able to pad their lead to 4-1 with a run scoring on a balk and another scoring on a wild pitch.
That's all the Mustangs would need to hang on to the 4-1 win over the Lions.
Friendswood ace pitcher Jacob Rogers settled in after getting support from his teammates. After giving up a run in the first inning and four hits through four innings, Rogers allowed no hits and retired nine of the final 10 Lake Creek batters in his final three innings - pitching a complete-game win (7 innings, four hits, one run, one walk, five strikeouts).
In Game 2, Friendswood got a solid team effort defensively, on the mound and a five-RBI outing from Dylan Maxcey for an 8-3 win over Lake Creek at Rice University's Reckling Park, sweeping the best-of-three 5A Region III championship series.
Friendswood’s starting pitcher Easton Tumis went 4.2 tough innings (three hits, three runs, two walks, three strikeouts), freshman Dane Perry entered the game in a tough spot of middle-inning relief pitching (1.1 innings, two hits, no runs, no walks, two strikeouts), but came through to set the stage for closer Griffin Kasemeyer to slam the door on the game in the seventh inning.
Friendswood wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Boots Landry sent a line-drive two-run home run over the right field wall in the top of the first inning for an early 2-0 lead.
Maxcey recorded the first of his five RBIs with a run-scoring double down the left-field line for a 3-0 advantage in the top of the second.
Lake Creek got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to 3-1, but Friendswood answered back in the top of the fourth, as Maxcey drilled a two-out three-run home run to left field to give the Mustangs a 6-1 advantage.
The Lions cut the margin to 6-3 in the top of the fifth, but the Mustangs answered in the top of the sixth on an RBI sac fly from Maxcey and an RBI double smashed into the right-center field gap by Reed South.
The Friendswood pitching staff did their part as starting pitcher Easton Tumis went 4.2 innings (three hits, three runs, two walks, three strikeouts), freshman Dane Perry entered the game in a tough spot of middle-inning relief pitching (1.1 innings, two hits, no runs, no walks, two strikeouts), but came through to set the stage for closer Griffin Kasemeyer to slam the door on the game in the seventh inning.
Friendswood belted out 11 total base hits coming from Maxcey (2-for-3), South (2-for-4), Ayden Pearcy (2-for-3) and Kyle Lockhart (2-for-3).
The Mustangs (27-9-1) will face Mansfield Legacy (32-9) at 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 9 at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock in the Class 5A state semifinals.
