Bishop Rallies Late To Deny Edgewood, 5-2, In Class 3A State Semifinals

ROUND ROCK -- For five innings, the Edgewood Bulldogs seemed to be in control and destined for an appearance in the state championship game.

But Bishop scored four two-out runs over the game's final two innings to earn a 5-2 victory over Edgewood in a Class 3A semifinal Wednesday evening from Dell Diamond.

Bishop (29-10-2), the champions of Region IV, will face either West or Littlefield in Thursday's title game, while Edgewood's first appearance at the UIL state baseball tournament ended with a 31-7 record on the season.

"We had a great season, and our kids did everything that we asked them to do," said Edgewood coach Jason Seale. "They worked their tails off to get to this point, and this loss doesn't change any of that. If a couple of things go a different way, then maybe we win that ballgame. It's not that they're that much better than us, it's just that they may have played a little bit better than we did and were able to win the ballgame."

Bishop's Kobrey Garcia (3) slides safely into second base under the tag of Edgewood's Trey Erwin during their Class 3A state semifinal Wednesday in Round Rock. (Stephen Spillman, ETSN.fm)

Edgewood starting pitcher Jackson Tyner (12-2), who has signed with Rice for football, dominated the Bishop lineup through five innings, as the Bulldogs carried a 2-1 lead into the top of the sixth.

But a wild pitch and Tresten Pool's RBI single with two outs gave Bishop its first lead at 3-2, and the Badgers added a couple of insurance runs in the top of the seventh. The inning began with an error, so both runs were unearned.

"Hats off to (Bishop), but it ain't gonna diminish our season at all because our kids deserved to be here," Seale said.

Edgewood had its chances to blow the game open early. The Bulldogs left nine runners on base, and were 0-for-9 on the day with men in scoring position.

"You look back, and you really wish you could've pushed some of those across, got a big hit and broke it open," Seale said. "They're pretty good and are here for a reason as well, and in tight spots like that, sometimes people can work out of those. That's what happened."

Bishop and Edgewood each collected five hits, but three of the Badgers's went for extra bases. Bishop also managed to advance despite issuing seven walks, including four in Edgewood's two-run second inning, two of which coming with the bases loaded.

Edgewood's Josh Davis and Devin Dawson drew the run-producing walks, which chased Bishop starter Aaron Cardona with two outs in the second.

Noe Garza came on in relief and induced a foul out to end the inning, then kept Edgewood off the scoreboard the rest of the way. Garcia allowed just three hits, struck out two and walked three in 5 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.

"When you get their starter off the mound that early, that's gotta be good for us, and they found a way to get out of the jam," Seale said. "And we didn't get the hit that we needed in those situations, and that's just kinda how it goes."

Bishop trimmed the deficit to 2-1 in the third when Cardona singled in Kobrey Garcia with two outs before gaining the lead in the sixth.

Cardona led off by reaching on an error, moved to second on a Garza sacrifice bunt, to third on a wild pitch, and scored on another wild pitch to tie the game, 2-2. Bishop's go-ahead single scored Manny Rojas, who was courtesy running for catcher Nick Colecio, who walked.

Edgewood failed to reach base in the sixth or seventh, while Bishop swelled its lead to three runs in the top of the seventh.

Edgewood's Devin Davison rounds third base during the Bulldogs' 5-2 loss to Bishop in their Class 3A state semifinal Wednesday in Round Rock. (Stephen Spillman, ETSN.fm)

Rico Trevino tripled down the right-field line with one out, which prompted Seale to intentionally walk Kobrey Garcia and Cardona, loading the bases.

"I believe in (Tyner) 100 percent," Seale said. "You saw the cuts those two guys put on him (earlier in the game). (Cardona) had two really good at-bats on him, and (Garcia) had a double down the line, and he's their best player. And you know squeeze is coming, so you know if you can load the bases you can take the squeeze away from them. Then you eliminate their best two players on top of that, and we kinda owned the 3-hole and the 4-hole."

Tyner struck out Garza for the second out, but then hit Austin Munoz and Colecio with pitches on two-strike counts.

"We took a chance and tried to minimize it right there, and then try and come back (in the bottom of the inning) and get (one run)," Seale said. "It didn't work out, and those runs are all on me. Those were totally my decisions, and I believed Jackson could do what he needed to do in those situations, and we could do what we needed to do as a team in those situations."

Tyner struck out eight, allowing five runs (three earned) on five hits in seven innings in the final game of his stellar high school athletic career.

Edgewood loses four other seniors from the school's first-ever state semifinalist -- catcher Jarrod Huber, first baseman Kobe Huett, right fielder Jason Thompson, and designated hitter Davis.

Edgewood head coach Jason Seale (center) gestures toward Jason Thompson (7) following the Bulldogs' 5-2 loss to Bishop in their Class 3A state semifinal Wednesday in Round Rock. (Stephen Spillman, ETSN.fm)