VICTORIA — After going to extra innings, the Dripping Springs High School baseball team fell to Kingwood High School in a best-of-three game series in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) 6A Division 2 State Semifinals last week.
On Thursday, May 29, the Tigers traveled to play the Mustangs, the Region III Champion, at Riverside Stadium Baseball Park in Victoria for game one, which Kingwood won with a score of 8-5.
Then, on Friday, the Tigers bounced back and won game two, with a final score of Tigers 3, Mustangs 0. The winning pitcher was Taylor Tracey, who pitched a strong six-inning shutout. In relief, pitcher Blake Cox was called and closed out the Mustangs for the win. The Tigers had six hits and no errors, while the Mustangs had three hits and no errors.
On Saturday, the series tied up 1 to 1 and the game three winner would play for the UIL 6A D2 championship next weekend at the Dell Diamond Baseball Stadium in Round Rock.
In the top of the third inning of game three, the Mustangs scored two runs and the Tigers quickly answered with a with a three-run homer by Tiger second baseman Traigh Perry. The Tigers scored another two runs in the bottom of the fourth and the score was Tigers 5, Mustangs 2.
The Tigers replaced several pitchers and the Mustangs scored two more runs in the top of the sixth inning and one more run in the top of the seventh inning on a wild pitch. At the end of seven innings, the score was Mustangs 5, Tigers 5.
The game went to extra innings and the Mustangs scored one run in the top of the ninth inning. The Tigers were unable to answer in the bottom of the ninth inning and the game ended with a final score of Mustangs 6, Tigers 5.
The Tigers had 12 seniors on this year's roster, including senior pitcher Tracey, who will attend the University of Tennessee, and senior pitcher Cooper Rummel, who will be playing for The University of Texas at Austin.
Following the game, Tiger head baseball coach Chris Payne said the team is losing strong leadership with the senior class and it will be hard to duplicate, but he anticipates the juniors and sophomores will be strong again next year. He wished the seniors well and especially the players who will be playing at the next level.
The Tigers finished their season with a record of 29 wins and 12 losses. They were UIL 6A D2 Region IV District 26 Co-District Champions, Region IV Champions and state semifinalists.
