After coughing up a four-run lead in what could have been a demoralizing 16-7 loss in the opener, Belton salvaged its season for at least another day with a 2-1 win over Pflugerville in Game 2 on Friday night at Tiger Field.
The best-of-three series will be decided with today’s 2 p.m. finale at Pflugerville.
The Tigers (25-5), who were staring at a second straight first-round exit at the hands of the Panthers (18-14) after the opener, got a stellar performance from senior pitcher Jacob Phillipe in Game 2, when they rallied with a pair of runs in the sixth.
Phillipe (6-0), a hard-throwing right-hander, gave up just three hits and struck out 10 to stabilize Belton.
“It was an outstanding performance by Jacob,” said Belton coach David Tidwell, who will start junior righty Nick Wright in Game 3. “We told the kids not to get their heads down. It’s a three-game series, so you’re going to have to win two games to win it. It doesn’t matter which two you win.”
Dillon Newman’s bases-loaded groundout tied it at 1 in the sixth, and Shane Hoelscher’s fielder’s choice ground ball pushed across the decisive run.
It was a stark turnaround from Game 1, when the wheels came off for the Tigers.
Clinging to a 6-5 lead to start the seventh, sophomore starting pitcher Newman gave up consecutive one-out singles and hit a batter. The Panthers took advantage on Chris Hello’s run-scoring ground ball off reliever Wright (7-4) to tie it and force extra innings.
The Tigers, who tallied eight hits through the first four frames but only five in the last five innings, didn’t score again until the bottom of the ninth - by which time Pflugerville had the game well in hand.
The Panthers won it with 10 runs in the top of the ninth, pounding out eight hits off the Belton pitching trio of Wright, Jordan Mattke and Brett Malcik.
Husky right-hander Kenneth Stockton got the win for Pflugerville, yielding five hits in the final four innings.
The Tigers used the long ball to post their first six runs and were in control for most of the series opener.
Seth Alcozer’s solo home run off left-hander Edward Esquivel in the second gave Belton a lead it didn’t relinquish until the seventh.
Cameron Arnett took Esquivel deep for a three-run shot in the third that gave the Tigers a 4-0 cushion. Kevin Schmidt’s RBI double spurred a three-run fourth for Pflugerville, but Belton answered with Kevin Thornton’s two-run shot to left field in the bottom of the inning for a 6-3 lead.
Schmidt - who was 3-for-5 and drove in four runs - belted a two-run homer off Newman in the sixth, trimming the deficit to a single run and setting up the Panthers’ seventh-inning rally.
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
