By Pat Turner
Contributing Writer

Baseball

Mix an experienced pitching staff with a solid defense and a productive hitting attack.

For a little extra flavor, add some heart with a fiery competitive spirit and you have a winning baseball recipe.

At least that’s the one the Stevens Falcons are using to cook up a memorable baseball season.

This past week might be a classic after the Falcons won a dramatic 3-2 win over Austin Bowie to seal the best-of-three area playoff series. Now, Stevens is headed into a Region IV quarterfinals best-of-three series matchup with Reagan this week at Wolff Stadium.

That series began at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, with game two scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday. A third game, if needed, is set for 1 p.m. Saturday.

Stevens had to overcome a few obstacles to reach the third round, but thanks to those winning ingredients against Austin Bowie, everything came together, especially in game three.

After winning a 10-4 decision in the opener, Stevens stumbled through a 5-2 loss in the second contest, forcing a third game.

Bowie carried a 2-1 lead into the seventh inning, but Stevens found the magic.

‘We have shown tremendous character,” Stevens coach Preston Rogers said. “They never give up. When we were down in the seventh inning I knew somebody was going to come through for us.”

In this case, three players came through.

Aaron Aguilar, who entered the game for injured Ruben Moreno, singled up the middle. Bowie pitcher Ethan Cole came back to get two outs, but Matt Moreno, who gave a solid effort on the mound, ripped a run-scoring double to left.

Cole then intentionally walked Jonathan Perez to face sophomore Rene Solis. That plan backfired on Bowie.

Solis hit a slow roller to first base, and the ball was misplayed, enabling Moreno to come home with the winning run.

“We stayed confident,” Perez said. “It put the momentum in our favor when Matt got the hit. It gave us hope. I had no idea what would happen on the grounder to first. It looked like a routine grounder, but it got through. I was just moving to second.

“This really gets us excited. We get to live another day and we’re going to be ready this whole week.”

Overcoming challenges is nothing new to Stevens, which is in its second year of varsity competition. The Falcons got their share during the district race, and also had to come up with heroics to sweep Victoria Memorial a week ago.

When Bowie forced a third game, the Falcons were confident. That was especially true in the seventh inning.

“We felt good coming into the third game,” Moreno said. “We were knocked down, but we knew we would get back up and come out fighting. We’ve done it before. We knew if we continue to hit the ball and play good defense we can keep winning.”

There’s a reason for that belief.

“We have great senior leadership, and the coaches encourage us a lot,” Solis said. “We knew we were going to go to the playoffs and play Reagan. Now, we’re getting the chance.”

“We have a lot of heart,” Aguilar added. “We have to keep going out there and doing out best. We’ve had a great year and we want to keep going.”

Clark’s playoff run ended in a 6-3, 11-3 sweep from Austin Westlake.

Marshall High School’s Michaela Palu clears the bar as she competes in the 5A girls’ high jump during the UIL State Track & Field Meet. Palu, the lone freshman in the event, placed fifth. Photo by John Albright

Several local athletes competed in the Class 5A State and Field Meet in Austin.

Warren had the most athletes competing, and the Warriors gave strong showings.

Kia Wansley finished fourth in the triple jump (33.11.50) and long jump (18-5.25).

Darryl Morris placed fourth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.48), while taking fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.32.

Eric Gosset was fifth in the 800-meter run (1:54.89).

Marshall’s 800-meter relay team was fourth with a 1:26.55 clocking. Michaela Palu of Marshall was fourth in the high jump with a 5-4 clearing.

Clark’s Avian Hughes was sixth in the long jump with a 22-5.50.