Whitehouse + Sulphur Springs Clash in Anticipated Baseball Playoff Series

The area round of the high school baseball playoffs begins this weekend, and topping the list of featured matchups in East Texas is the Class 4A Region II best-of-three series between No. 6 Whitehouse and Sulphur Springs.

The series, which takes place at Lindale ISD Baseball Complex, gets under way with Game 1 at 7 p.m. Friday. Game 2 is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday with a third game, if necessary, to follow.

The winner of the series will face the winner between Hallsville and Mansfield Summit next week in the regional quarterfinals.

Class 4A Region II
Area Best-Of-Three Playoff Series

Whitehouse (23-8) vs. Sulphur Springs (20-9-1)

Lindale ISD Baseball Complex

Coaches

• Whitehouse: Derrick Jenkins
• Sulphur Springs: Jerrod Hammack

Road to Area Round

Whitehouse

• Bi-District: def. Red Oak, 2-0 (9-2, 11-5)

Sulphur Springs

• Bi-District: def. Wylie East, 2-0 (9-8, 7-6)

Starting Position Players

Whitehouse

• C -- Derek Clemons (.352, 1 HR, 33 RBIs, 7 2Bs)
• 1B -- Michael Nuon (.289, 1 HR, 16 RBIs, 6 2Bs, 20 SBs)
• 2B -- Eric Munoz (.278, 7 RBIs, 6 2Bs)
• SS/3B -- Jake Parker (.300, 22 RBIs, 3 3Bs, 6 SBs)
• SS -- Patrick Mahomes (.354, 22 RBIs, 10 2Bs, 23 SBs)
• 3B -- Ryan Cheatham (.318, 21 RBIs, 11 2Bs)
• LF -- Jared Raabe (.355, 21 RBIs, 6 2Bs, 22 SBs)
• CF -- Coleman Patterson (.244, 4 RBIs, 13 SBs)
• RF -- Rex Swinney (.287, 16 RBIs, 8 2Bs, 6 SBs)
• DH -- Aaron Clemons (.413, 42 RBIs, 8 2Bs)

Sulphur Springs

• C -- Cabo Sanvig (.247, 3 2Bs, 8 RBIs)
• 1B -- Kason Matthews (.308, 1 HR, 17 RBIs, 4 2Bs)
• 2B -- Alex Burney (.321, 5 2Bs, 14 RBIs)
• 3B -- Jenner Jackson (.376, 3 HRs, 35 RBIs, 8 2Bs, 7 SBs)
• 3B -- Ben Brooks (.171)
• SS -- Cole Hill (.348, 3 HRs, 20 RBIs, 5 2Bs, 6 SBs)
• LF -- Willy Ivery (.250, 1 HR, 11 RBIs, 3 3Bs, 11 SBs)
• CF -- Jordan Jackson (.483, 2 HRs, 32 RBIs, 8 2Bs, 4 3Bs, 11 SBs)
• CF/DH -- Larry Pryor (.105, 6 RBIs)
• RF -- Brennan Brock (.280, 3 RBIs, 3 2Bs, 7 SBs)

Starting Pitchers

Whitehouse

• RHP -- Patrick Mahomes (6-1, 1.43 ERA, 81 Ks, 53.2 IP)
• RHP -- Ryan Cheatham (10-0, 2.64 ERA, 71 Ks, 66.1 IP)
• RHP -- Peyton Conser (3-3, 1.73 ERA, 26 Ks, 36.1 IP)

Sulphur Springs

• RHP -- Jenner Jackson (9-1, 2.07 ERA, 71 Ks, 64.1 IP)
• LHP -- Jordan Jackson (4-5, 2.52 ERA, 55 Ks, 61.0 IP)
• RHP -- Ben Brooks (5-1, 3.68 ERA, 34 Ks, 40.0 IP)

Coachspeak

• Whitehouse coach Derrick Jenkins on his offensive lineup: "It's been a matter of finding the right lineup, and we are swinging the bats well. Everybody's feeling comfortable with each other, and it's been nice. When you're scoring eight runs a game, we have a chance to win anything."
• Jenkins on his top two starting pitchers Patrick Mahomes and Ryan Cheatham: "They stepped in as sophomores and were our No. 1 and 2 last year. They just walked in this year and just expect to win. Cheatham is 10-0, Patrick is 6-1. When those guys pitch, especially when they're on, you know all you have to do is control the game. Even when they're a little off, teams may only score three or four runs off them."
• Sulphur Springs coach Jerrod Hammack on his team's approach at the plate: "We feel our district had a lot of good pitchers in it, and I think that's indicative of three of our four teams advancing last week in the playoffs. Wylie East was as good a team as we played all year. They had two pitchers with below-1.00 ERAs and the other one was barely above 1.00. As long as we take the approach of going to the middle of the field and gap to gap, letting the ball get to us … when we do that, we're very effective against any kind of pitcher. We're swinging the bats real well right now and hopefully that continues this week."
• Hammack on his top two pitchers Jenner Jackson and Jordan Jackson: "I think their experience (helps), they've both been on varsity since their sophomore year. They both play year-round and travel all across the country, so they have experience pitching in big-time games. And they've got great stuff. Both of them have live arms, they can throw to both sides of the plate and up and down. I don't think we've had a better 1-2 punch in my eight years here."