Saturday Baseball Roundup: Center Downs Carthage In Exhibition Game

GARY -- Carthage and Center played an exhibition game Saturday at Gary in preparation for their Class 4A playoff runs.

The Roughriders won, 6-4, and now have a 3-1 record against the Bulldogs this season.

Center (20-3) jumped ahead with a four-run third inning and tacked on runs in the sixth and seventh frames. Carthage (13-10) trailed 4-3 entering the sixth inning.

Roughriders' first baseman Dalton Horton, a TCU signee, led the way with a 2-for-3 day at the plate. Josh Burns and Taylor Tomlin both tripled in the victory.

Hunter Townsend had the best overall offensive performance. He batted 3-for-3 for the Bulldogs with a double, a triple and two RBIs.

Center, the District 19-4A champion, will take on Huntington in the Class 4A bi-district round. Times, dates and locations are still being settled between the two schools.

Carthage, which fell one game short of Center, opens the postseason with a best-of-three-games series against Diboll at Stephen F. Austin State University. The first game will be played 7 p.m. Friday, Game 2 will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday and, if necessary, a third game will occur 30 minutes after the second game.

The Roughriders and Bulldogs can theoretically meet again in the Class 4A Region III championship series early next month.

Brook Hill Falls To Austin Hyde Park

AUSTIN -- Bullard Brooks Hill's run in the TAPPS playoffs came to an end Saturday with a 2-0 loss at Austin Hyde Park in the area round.

Hyde Park scored solo runs in the first and second innings. Starting pitcher Johnathan Bitzer maintained the lead, allowing just one hit and striking out 10 en route to the win.

Brook Hill pasted Grapevine Faith, 18-1, Friday to earn the meeting.

Blake Maddox led the way in the Grapevine Faith game with a 3-for-5 night.

The Guard and Grapevine Faith traded scoreless first and second innings before a 13-run eruption in the third.