PORTLAND — The Goliad baseball team found some offense against London on May 14 in Game 2 of a Class 3A Division I regional semifinal series.
But the Pirates found a little bit more. The Tigers used some clutch hitting to tie the game in the middle innings against the No. 1-ranked Pirates, but London’s Aiden Salinas hit a home run in the fifth to break a tie and help them to an 8-6 victory to sweep Goliad at Wildcat Park.
London advances to the regional final where it will take on either Falfurrias or Marion as the Tigers end their season with a 25-11 record.
Goliad struck first with two runs in the game’s opening inning, which came one night after the Pirates shut Goliad out in Game 1. The Pirates, though, came back with a run in the bottom half of the first and then three in the third for a 4-2 lead.
In the back-and-forth nature of the game, Goliad tied the game at 4 in the fourth on a Cy Henke solo home run and a Brody Brookhouser RBI groundout. London took a 5-4 lead in the fourth, but the Tigers came back to tie it at 5 in the fifth when Barrett Irwin scored.
The game turned in London’s favor in the sixth as Salinas hit a two-run home run and then Dax Williams tripled for an 8-5 Pirates lead. Goliad added a run in the sixth but could not tie the game in the seventh to keep its season alive.
The Tigers had five hits in the game and no player had multiple hits as Kayden Caka and Coy Stange each had doubles, and Henke hit his home run. Henke, Corben Rosenquest, Keelan Coley, Conner Maroney, Henke and Brookhouser each had RBI in the loss.