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Rinse and repeat: Timely execution keys Panthers past Fossil Ridge for series win
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
FORT WORTH -- For the Plano East baseball team, Saturday wasn't so much Game 3 of the team's best-of-3 bi-district series against Keller Fossil Ridge as it was an extension of Game 2 the night before.
Not even 24 hours removed from knotting the series at 1-1 with a 7-2 victory Friday, the Panthers parlayed that same output into a 10-4 thrashing of Fossil Ridge to claim a series victory.
"I thought we've played well offensively and defensively all series," said Travis Collins, East head coach. "... I'm just so proud of how these guys battled and we made the decision that once we lost the first game here that we had to win the next seven innings and focus on every pitch and at-bat.
Just as was the case night before, the Panthers made their move in the third inning and never looked back.
After falling behind, 1-0, after a second-inning RBI single by Luis Rivas, the Panthers responded with three runs in the third frame. Sophomore James Rudkin triggered the rally with an RBI single into right field that scored senior Sam Lane, who walked on a nine-pitch at-bat to open the inning.
Junior Ryan Kravik tacked on two more runs after an RBI single plated junior Nick Ramos and senior Matt Wylie.
"We've hit the baseball well all week," Collins said. "We really put the pressure on their guy to make pitches and he did a great job early but I think as the game went on, he got a bit tired; it's so hot out there."
The third inning alone required 35 pitches from Fossil Ridge starter Sheldon Neuse, over one-third of the 100 he tossed on five innings of work. During that span, the Panthers ripped off five runs on six hits including a two-RBI double into deep center field from senior Jacob DeLaCruz, who went 2-of-4 with three RBIs, that scored Ramos and Wylie in the fifth inning for a 5-2 East edge.
The Panthers totaled 12 hits on the afternoon, a figure matched by Fossil Ridge although the latter had just four runs to show for its efforts.
Credit to timely defensive stands by East, which found itself bending but not breaking all day long.
Look no further than Rudkin, who drew the start in the series-deciding game and threw six innings of three-run ball, all while yielding 10 hits and walking seven batters.
It meant plenty of base-runners for Fossil Ridge, but getting that one timely hit proved dicey with the team stranding 14 total runners on the day.
It required Rudkin and the defense getting out of many a jam, from recording three consecutive outs -- including two straight strikeouts by Rudkin -- with runners on second and third in the second inning, to inducing a groundball out with the bases loaded in the sixth stanza.
"The plays we had to make for the most part, we made," Collins said. "That's all we ask of them, to make those routine plays and every now and then, make a great play."
"I was just trying to throw strikes and make them hit the ball," Rudkin added. "It didn't really work out that well, but I still got some big innings and some double-plays."
Fossil Ridge wasn't as fortunate, with East padding its lead with five more runs and six more hits off reliever Kenniel Rivera-Gonzalez over the final two innings.
During that spurt, Ramos knocked in a pair of runs on two sacrifice flys, scoring senior Graham Ackal both times, and Lane added a pair of hits.
The end result was the Panthers' first trip past the bi-district round of the playoffs since 2009. Awaiting East in the area round is Colleyville Heritage, who claimed a two-game sweep over Midlothian in bi-district play.
"It feels good and hopefully we can keep this run going," Rudkin said.
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