Panthers don't blinkBy TRAE THOMPSONSTAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITERARLINGTON -- With the score tied in extra innings, Colleyville Heritage baseball coach Alan McDougal had a hunch for his players.
"I was telling them, 'The first one that blinks is probably going to end up on the short end of the stick,'" he said.
In the bottom of the 10th inning, the Panthers loaded the bases against Carroll, and with one out, Casey Russell hit a single to shallow left that drove in Paul Victor for a 4-3 victory Friday in a key District 5-5A game at Ameriquest Field.
"Every inning we went out and told ourselves to stay in it and not let down," said Russell, who got the hit on a curveball.
The Panthers (12-2, 2-0), No. 4 in the Star-Telegram Class 5A area rankings, faced a Dragons team that played them evenly throughout the game. Both teams threw their aces: Panthers' lefty Matt Lane struck out eight, allowing three early runs on four hits in six innings; Dragons junior Chase Reid went seven innings, giving up three runs, two hits and four walks with nine strikeouts.
Both hits came on triples by right fielder Matt DeLeo (3-0), who scored off a wild pitch and later relieved Lane in the seventh.
Center fielder Randall Thorpe tripled in the bottom of the fifth, but Carroll coach Larry Hughes said "what killed" his team came during the previous at-bat, when freshman catcher Steven Hill was walked on four pitches.
The Panthers had a chance to win in the bottom of the seventh, but stranded two runners. Both teams were held hitless in the eighth and ninth innings, and Carroll (9-6-1, 1-1) only managed a single in the 10th.
Colleyville Heritage loaded the bases on James Allen (1-1) after Scott Lawson reached on a fielding error and Victor laid down a bunt. Carroll made another error attempting to throw out Lawson, and he moved to third. Victor, who reached on a fielder's choice, got to second after DeLeo was intentionally walked.
Alex Aycoth hit to third but reached on a fielder's choice when Carroll third baseman Steven Avers threw out Lawson at home on the force. Russell then singled.
"They've never been in a big game like this, a situation quite like this," Hughes said. "We had 10 innings the other day, but it was at home. We really played a good game, but made some crucial mistakes that let them back in the game."
COLLEYVILLE HERITAGE 4, CARROLL 3 (10)
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