With little margin for error to make the playoffs, the Tascosa Rebels scored their first must-win of the season Tuesday.
Tascosa scored eight unanswered runs to take a comfortable lead at Palo Duro and withstood a late charge to pull out an 8-4 victory to stay mathematically alive for the postseason with only three games remaining.
The Rebels are now 13-10 and 6-7 in district and broke a five-game losing streak by beating Palo Duro (8-17, 1-12). Tascosa is in sixth place in district play.
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At 5 p.m. Thursday, the teams will meet again at Tascosa.
Palo Duro scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first, but the Rebels dominated most of the way after that. The Dons barely led before the Rebels took the lead for good on a two-run double by Reese Cabe in the top of the second to make it 3-1.
Tascosa stretched the lead to 5-1 on Charlie McKinney’s two-run home run in the top of the third. McKinney finished the day 3-for-4 with four RBIs and David Gordon drove in two runs.
The Rebels led 8-1 before Palo Duro mounted a three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh, but it was far too little and too late. Cais Fain pitched the first 6 1/3 innings for the victory.
Palo Duro’s Ethan Sauceda drove in two runs.
In the other game involving Amarillo ISD, Caprock’s struggles continued in a 10-0 loss to Plainview. The Longhorns fell to 1-26 and 1-14.
District 4-4A
The Canyon ISD schools tied atop the district standings weren’t looking past things, making their meeting Friday that much more meaningful.
Canyon thoroughly dominated at home against Borger, scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the third to achieve the 10-run mercy rule early and roll to a 14-0 win in five innings. West Plains jumped on Dumas on the road as well, scoring eight runs in the top of the sixth to attain the run-rule margin and roll to a 13-3 win.
The two teams will meet at noon Friday at West Plains tied for the district lead, with the winner having the inside track at a district championship. They have both also clinched playoff berths.
Canyon (22-3, 10-1) got all it needed with a run in the bottom of the first when Jacob Burris tripled and scored on an error. That was a mere prelude to the third inning, when the first seven batters for the Eagles all got hits, with Burris following with a two-run double.
Burris had three hits and scored three runs. Zabien Urteaga had two hits and drove in three runs and Carson Allen had two hits and drove in two runs.
Bayler Schilling threw four shutout innings and gave up one hit while striking out six.
West Plains (20-5-1, 10-1) was locked in a fairly tight game early, leading 1-0 after three innings with only an unearned run. But the Wolves scored eight runs in the fourth through sixth innings, as Kaiden Dorman got things started with a two-run homer in the fourth.
In the sixth, 10 straight West Plains batters reached base to open the inning, highlighted by Kane White-Tinsley’s grand slam. Dumas scored three runs in the bottom of the inning, but couldn’t force the game into the seventh.
It was a clean sweep for the CISD schools, as Randall defeated Pampa 5-1. The Raiders (15-9-1, 6-5) moved into a tie for third in the district with Pampa.
District 1-3A
The Bushland Falcons showed some resilience at home, scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to come back and defeat Childress 6-5.
Bushland (13-9, 8-1) had already clinched a playoff spot and the Falcons remained in the district lead with the win.
The game was tied 4-4 after six. Childress (10-10-1, 4-5) took a 5-4 lead on an error, but Bushland wasn’t fazed.
Reece Melban and Max Rodriguez opened the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back singles for the Falcons. Eventually Melban scored on an error to tie the game and Rodriguez moved up to third. Colton Strickland hit a fly ball to left which scored Rodriguez with the winning run.
In the other district game, River Road (4-13, 0-9) was eliminated from the postseason picture with a 20-10 loss to Tulia. That sets Bushland, Dalhart, Childress and Tulia as 1-3A’s four playoff representatives.
District 1-2A
Gruver remains in control of District 1-2A while remaining unbeaten on the year blasting West Texas High 15-1 on Tuesday. The Greyhounds have clinched the district championship pushing their record to 7-0 in the league and 12-0 overall. Stephen Cowan was 2-for-4 with three RBIs in the win and threw four innings with three strikeouts. Brock Butler added a two-run homer.
Sunray bounced back from a tough week beating Highland Park 16-0. The Bobcats are in second place in district at 3-2 and 9-3 overall. Luke Grajeda was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with two triples and two RBIs. Pedro Barba added two RBIs of his own with a double.
District 2-2A
Wellington picked up a late run in the sixth inning to get by Lockney 3-2 in a district game Tuesday. Wellington improves to 8-5 overall and 7-1 in league action. TJ Salinas threw a gem with 16 strikeouts over seven innings.
Clarendon suffered its second loss of district falling to Floydada 5-3. The Broncos are now 9-9 overall and 6-2 in district.
District 3-2A
The Nazareth Swifts keep making it look easy through district so far blowing out Crosbyton 19-0 on Tuesday. Nazareth scored 18 runs in the bottom of the third to finish the game off. Brock Proctor was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Reid Backus added a pair of RBIs. The Swifts (13-1) are now 5-0 in the league.