What began as a pitching duel between Baytown Sterling’s Brett Marshall and Westside’s Michael Goodnight turned into a battle of attrition. When the dust settled, Westside ended up on top.
With the help of a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch of catcher Cory Maltz by Marshall in the top of the seventh and a clutch relief appearance from Michael Falcone in the bottom of the seventh, the Wolves continued their school-history making run with a 6-5 victory on Friday at Ronnie Kluch Field.
The Wolves (28-3) sweep the series and advance to the Region III-5A championship for the first time in school history. They’ll meet Alvin or Bellaire, who will wrap up their series today with Game 2 beginning at 1 p.m. at Manvel High School and a third game to follow if necessary.
“I’m elated for our kids because it’s a great thing for our program,”
Westside coach Emrick Jagneaux said. “We keep taking baby steps, now we’re trying to take giant steps.”
With the teams tied 5-5 heading into final frame, Marshall (10-2) ran into trouble. He walked Westside outfielder Matt Clayton to leadoff the inning then Goodnight reached on an error. Marshall later issued a walk to Daniel Mengden and then hit Maltz to drive in the winning run.
“I felt like Brett got a little tired,”
Baytown Sterling coach Paul Tadlock said. “I know we rode him hard, but he’s all we had. Even if he was tired, he was our best chance (to win).”
Marshall went all seven innings, allowing six hits while striking out nine, walking five and hitting two batters on 145 pitches.
Maltz moved from catcher to pitcher to start the seventh but hit a batter and walked a batter before Jagneaux went to the seldom-used Falcone. The righthander retired all three batters he faced and struck out two to seal the victory.
“I came into this week not knowing whether or not I was going to pitch this weekend,”
Falcone said. “It was nerve-wracking, but I got in, competed and did the job. It’s a fantastic feeling.”
Goodnight and Marshall each began the night well, though. Marshall struck out three in the first two innings before Westside picked up a pair in the third, one on an RBI single by Clayton and the other on an RBI single by Goodnight for a 2-0 lead.
The Rangers (29-6) picked up a run in the bottom of the third but the Wolves struck back in the fifth. Goodnight came up with another big hit, a 2-RBI single, followed by an RBI triple by Mengden for a 5-1 lead.
The Rangers fought back in the fifth and sixth. Outfielder Hunter Cervenka walloped a two-run homer over the left-center field fence in the fifth to cut the deficit to 5-3. In the sixth, Chance Smith scored after a Jonathan Fuller single got by Westside right fielder Garrett Shaw, then Cervenka got an RBI groundout to tie the game at 5-5.
The Wolves, now just a step away from their first state tournament, are riding high.
“I don’t want to say anything or predict anything too early,”
Falcone said. “But I hope we do it.”
