Playoffs: The Woodlands teams advance

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Stefani Diehl delivered a two-out, eighth-inning single, scoring Taylor Vick with the winning run and The Woodlands High School softball team beat Atascocita 4-3 in the deciding game of a Region II-5A quarterfinals playoff series. All three games were decided by one run.

Speaking of one run, Alex Dunlap drove in two runs and Ryan Burnett fired a three-hitter as The Woodlands High School baseball team won a 2-1 nail-biter Saturday at Dell Diamond in Round Rock. It was a winner-take-all area round playoff game.

The Woodlands (30-3), ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 5 in the nation by “Baseball America” advances to the Region II-5A quarterfinals next week to face Round Rock.

The Lady Highlanders (27-6), ranked No. 7 in the state, dropped a 1-0 pitcher’s duel to Atascocita on Friday at Bryan and needed two victories at home Saturday to advance to the Region II-5A semifinals where they’ll meet McKinney Boyd.

Vick collected three of the Lady Highlanders’ eight hits and drove in a run in Game 3. Diehl added two hits, including the dramatic game- and series-winner.

The Woodlands rallied from an early 1-0 deficit with two runs in the second to take a 2-1 lead. But the Lady Eagles answered with two runs of their own in the third to regain the lead. The Lady Highlanders tied the game at 3-3 with a run in the sixth inning to set up the thrilling finish.

“THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE! 4TH ROUND BABY!!!” tweeted Lady Highlanders second baseman Alyssa Jorgensen.

Brittany Kellett doubled and drove in a run and Kaitlyn Stavinoha singled and added an RBI. Sidney Salmans contributed with a single.

Abby Langkamp got the win in the circle. The lefty started the game but went just 1 2/3 innings before Caitlin Bartsch worked the next 4 1/3 innings. Langkamp returned to the circle to pitch the final two innings.

The Woodlands battled to a 6-5 win in Game 2. Langkamp had two hits and drove in two runs. She also got the win in relief. The Lady Highlanders’ hard-throwing lefty worked the final 2 2/3 innings after Bartsch pitched the first 4 1/3.

After falling behind 2-0, The Woodlands scored five times in the third inning to grab a 5-2 lead. But Atascocita fought back to tie the game with three runs in the sixth. That’s when the Lady Highlanders answered with the go-ahead run in the bottom half of the inning.

Stavinoha added two hits and an RBI while Vick doubled and drove in a pair of runs. Aubrey Leach, Jorgensen and Kellett round out the Lady Highlanders’ hit parade with one apiece.

Burnett shines

Highlanders’ left-handed pitcher Burnett picked up on Saturday where he left off Friday night, taking a one-hitter into the seventh inning of an area round playoff series reduced to one game because of heavy rains that fell on the area Friday. Stony Point put together two hits and scored a run before the Highlanders’ left-hander ended the game with his 11th strikeout.

“And Ryan Burnett tosses another gem today,” Dunlap tweeted after the game. “Proud of my ‘maties’.”

“Let’s keep on goin’,” Burnett tweeted. “We ain't stopping.”

Dunlap delivered a two-out single in the third inning that scored Luke Sherley with the first run of the game. The Woodlands’ senior catcher added a two-out single in the top of the seventh inning, scoring Ben Gooch, who was pinch-running for Luke Sherley. Sherley (2-for-3) reached on a one-out single.

Gooch advanced into scoring position on a single by Hillin Warren, who also doubled earlier.

“One pitch at a time, one play at a time, one game a time,” Warren tweeted.

Blaine Gillespie also had two hits, including a triple. The Highlanders totaled nine hits. Chris Andritsos, Michael McKinstrey and Sherley contributed one hit apiece.