Douglass Advances to State Tournament With 9-0 Rout of Defending Champion Carlisle

LUFKIN -- After three years of playoff disappointment at the hands of Carlisle, the top-ranked Douglass Indians were finally able to exercise the demons and reach every team's goal at the beginning of the season.

Douglass erupted for four runs in the first inning and rolled to a 9-0 rout of the defending state champion Carlisle Indians on Saturday at Morris Frank Park, sweeping the Class A Region III championship series.

Douglass (31-1), ranked No. 1 for most of the season, outscored Carlisle (23-5) 16-0 in the two-game sweep and will play Wednesday in one 1A state semifinal from Round Rock's Dell Diamond.

Much like Game 1, Douglass benefitted from sloppy play from Carlisle to take a big early lead. The four first-inning runs were accompanied by just one hit, but included a walk and three Carlisle errors.

Grant Holland drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on an errant pickoff attempt at first. He then advanced to third when Matthew Wallace laid down a sacrifice bunt that the Carlisle pitcher dropped, allowing Wallace to reach first.

Kolten Rhoudes followed with an RBI double to deep center field for a 1-0 lead. The next two runs came across following a throwing error by the Carlisle shortstop.

Douglass extended its lead to 6-0 in the second inning on an RBI double by Bryce Westbrook and run-scoring infield single by Brandon Stanfield, which preceded a rain delay of more than an hour.

Wallace was the winning pitcher as Douglass extended its scoreless innings streak to 28 during its dominant playoff run.