Bushland beats up Brownfield 

The Bushland Falcons weren’t as dominant this past week as they had been for over a month prior to the Class 3A area round of the playoffs.

But the results were still the same.

Bushland needed to go the distance in both games against Brownfield on Friday at Floydada, a rarity after winning all 10 games in District 1-3A play by the 10-run mercy rule. The Falcons won the first game 9-3 and the second one 8-3 to sweep the best-of-three series and run their winning streak to 15 games.

Next up for Bushland will be Idalou in the region quarterfinal next week, which should provide the Falcons (27-3) a much bigger challenge than what they’ve had lately.

Brownfield (8-13) was at least able to hang in there for the full seven innings in back-to-back games against Bushland. Still, the Falcons never trailed in the series.

They took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first of game one and put it away with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Max Rodriguez led Bushland at the plate with two hits and drove in three runs, while Josh Bass had two hits and drove in two runs and also pitched a complete-game victory.

Leadoff hitter Kade Gavina had three hits and scored twice, as Bushland had 15 hits.

Bushland held on to a 4-2 lead entering the seventh inning of game two before scoring four runs for some breathing room. Rodriguez and Bass both drove in two runs and Cannon Melban pitched 6 2/3 innings for the victory.

Randall sweeps Bowie

After having to fight to advance the previous week, the Randall Raiders left no doubt against El Paso Bowie, not getting challenged as they rolled to a pair of run-rule victories, 21-2 in the first game and 13-0 in the second to complete a series sweep at Seminole on Thursday and Saturday.

No. 3 Randall (32-3) has now won 28 straight games and will face District 4-4A rival Hereford in next week’s region quarterfinal.

The Raiders had relatively competitive games against Seminole in the bidistrict series to open the playoffs, but there was no suspense against Bowie (13-15). In game one, Randall had 17 hits as Brae Silva drove in three runs. Payton Bush, Mason Gilbert and Dylan Ray all drove in two runs for the Raiders, and Logan Tice got the win on the mound by giving up two hits and two unearned runs in four innings.

In the second game, Kole Dudding had two hits and drove in three runs, and Gilbert and Eli Williams both drove in two runs. Bush had two hits and scored three runs and pitched four innings for the win.

Canyon goes to three games to beat Riverside

Canyon had to go the distance to beat formidable El Paso Riverside in Hobbs N.M, on Thursday and Friday, needing three games to win the series.

The Eagles (25-8) won the first game 13-5 on Thursday. Riverside (24-7) rallied to win the second game 10-7 on Friday before Canyon ended the series with a 12-1 five-inning run-rule win in the third game.

Canyon started fast in the first game, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first. Christian McGuire kept up his hot streak at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a home run and 4 RBIs.

Hunter Anderson, Zabien Urteaga and Sam Johnson all had three hits as well for the Eagles and Ben Black pitched five innings for the win.

After Riverside tied the series, the Eagles got serious in game three. They scored three runs in the first to start things, then went up 9-0 after three. Canyon scored three in the bottom of the fifth to attain the run rule, as McGuire’s two-run homer clinched the series.

Urteaga had three hits and drove in three runs and Cutter Livermore had two hits and drove in two runs. Jacob Burris gave up only two hits on the mound for the win.

Hereford dominates San Elizario

Hereford stayed unbeaten in the postseason Friday, beating San Elizario 7-0 and 15-1 to complete the sweep and set up a rematch with Randall.

Carlos Duran was dominant on the mound for the Whitefaces (21-9-2) in the first game, throwing a complete-game two-hitter and striking out 12. D.J. Ramirez and Tell Bryant both drove in two runs for Hereford.

The second game was far less competitive as the Herd managed a run-rule win. Ramirez had two hits and drove in four runs and Noah Zamora had two hits and drove in three runs.

Kalub Ramirez drove in two runs and got the win on the mound, throwing five innings and giving up three hits and an unearned run.

Class 1A

Nazareth handles Borden County 

As expected, the Nazareth Swifts are moving on after running over Borden County with a pair of run-rule wins, 15-3, and 11-1, in the Class 1A regional quarterfinals on Thursday and Friday in Sundown.

The Swifts (14-4) advance to take on upstart Claude (16-9) in the regional semifinals in a best-of-three series starting on Thursday at Hodgetown.

Carson Heiman led the way for Nazareth going a combined 3-6 in the series with a double, a triple, tallying five RBIs. Teammate Jack Welps chipped in with three total RBIs.

Claude continues to roll 

The Claude Mustangs continue to be the talk of the baseball playoffs after getting a sweep of Crosbyton with a 10-6 win and an 8-3 victory during the Class 1A regional quarterfinals in Plainview on Thursday.

The Mustangs (16-9) advance to the regional semifinals for the first time in 20 years and will take on defending Region I champion, Nazareth (14-4) with the best of a three-game series starting on Thursday at Hodgetown.

Braygon Conrad handcuffed Crosbyton in the Game 1 win by throwing a complete game, scattering five hits, allowing an earned run while racking up 12 strikeouts. In the Game 2 victory, Luke Knox did the damage going 2-for-4 with a triple, totaling four RBIs.

H.S. bi-district scores

Class 2A

Ropes defeats Sunray, 2-1
Game 1: Ropes 17, Sunray 10
Game 2: Sunray 9, Ropes 2
Game 3: Ropes 7, Sunray 3
Records: Ropes 27-4; Sunray 18-6.

Sundown defeats Clarendon, 2-1
Game 1: Clarendon 7, Sundown 3
Game 2: Sundown 13, Clarendon 3
Game 3: Sundown 12, Clarendon 8

New Home sweeps Gruver
Game 1: New Home 25, Gruver 4
Game 2: New Home 13, Gruver 3
Records: New Home 24-3-3; Gruver 13-9.

Olton sweeps Sanford-Fritch
Game 1: Olton 7, Sanford-Fritch 6
Game 2: Olton 5, Sanford-Fritch 0
Records: Olton 21-5-2; Sanford-Fritch 5-13.