MCKINNEY —
The No. 2-ranked Heath Hawks baseball team knocked off No. 1-ranked Frisco Wakeland 2-1 in a best-of-three series at McKinney Boyd for the Class 4A Region II Championship last weekend.
The regional win places the Hawks in the state tournament at Dell Diamond in Round Rock for the first time in school history.
It was the third straight year the Hawks have advanced to the Region II final, but the first time they have come away with the championship.
“We’ve been so close for two years,” said head coach Greg Harvey. “To finally get over the hump, I almost can’t put it into words.”
Heath was scheduled to face Montgomery, a 2-1 winner over Lamar Consolidated for its regional title, in Thursday’s first 4A semifinal at 4 p.m. with the winner advancing to the state championship game on Friday at 7 p.m.
Austin Lake Travis was set to square off against Cleburne yesterday at 7 p.m. in the other semifinal.
In Heath’s regional championship win over Wakeland, the Hawks opened the series with a dominating 8-1 victory in the first game.
RHHS built a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Jake Thompson singled, Bret Boswell doubled, Jake Bledsoe walked and Timbo Duncan cleared the bases with a double.
The Hawks added a run in the fourth, one in the sixth and three more in the seventh en route to the huge opening win.
Jovan Hernandez pitched a complete 7-inning game, giving up one run on four hits and three walks and had five strikeouts.
“The early lead gave our hitters a lot of confidence,” said Harvey. “We hit the ball well and gave Jovan some breathing room.”
Grayson Lewis led the way at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a single, double, triple and two RBIs, Russell Hughes was 3-for-4 with a double, two singles and two RBIs, Hernandez was 2-for-4 with a double and single and Bret Boswell was 2-for-4 with two doubles.
Wakeland came back in Game 2 with a strong performance on the mound by Arkansas signee and unbeaten pitcher Willie Schwanke.
He hurled a 3-hit shutout to lead the Wolverines to a 1-0 series-tying win, shutting down the Hawks 3-up, 3-down in five innings.
Coach Harvey made a key decision to go with No. 3 pitcher Jake Baxter, probably the best third pitcher in the state, in the second game and hold back ace Jake Thompson for a third game, if necessary.
Baxter was outstanding, allowing only one run, but the Hawks couldn’t put up runs against Schwanke.
Harvey’s decision, however, proved to be one of the best of his career.
Thompson gave up only two runs on six hits to take the 9-2 win in Game 3 for the Hawks first-ever regional championship. He struck out 12 batters and walked two, one intentional.
He also pounded the only home run of the series and added a single with two RBIs to help his cause.
Boswell went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, Hernandez was 2-for-3 and Austin Stewart was 2-for-4 with three RBIs to lead the Hawks to the regional title and a trip to Round Rock.
Sports
Hawks defeat Wakeland for Region II championship
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