Midlothian Heritage scores 6 runs in final inning for walk-off win over Joshua
Apr. 26—MIDLOTHIAN — In a pivotal showdown between playoff hopefuls, the Midlothian Heritage Jaguars overcame a 6-1 deficit to stun the Joshua Owls, 7-6, in walk-off fashion Tuesday night in Midlothian.
The Jaguars and Owls entered Tuesday's game tied for fourth place in District 8-5A play. Heritage's win gives the Jaguars (8-7) a one-game lead over Joshua (7-8) with one game remaining. If Heritage beats Joshua on Friday, the Jaguars are the No. 4 seed.
In Tuesday's game, Heritage scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to turn a 6-1 deficit into a stunning 7-6 win.
The comeback started with a leadoff single by Aaidan Morris and a walk by Cameron Aguillard. Jason Barela hit a hard ground ball to second base and reached on an error, which allowed Morris to score to make it a 6-2 game, and the comeback was on.
After a sacrifice fly RBI by Cayden Campbell made it 6-3, Ty Lemke hit a single to put two runners on. The Owls got a key second out of the inning on an infield pop-out, but Hunter Trojacek came through clutch with a two-run double to bring to score to 6-5. Following an intentional walk, Carter Pace hit a walk-off, two-out RBI double to right field to score the game-tying and game-winning runs.
Trojacek went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Morris was 2-for-3 with two runs, and Pace was 1-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the Jaguars.
Hank Berkner was 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run, Gavin Massey was 1-for-3 with one RBI, and Collin Poindexter went 2-for-4 to lead the Owls offensively.
Joshua opened the scoring with one run off a Heritage error in the top of the first inning. After the Jaguars tied it with one run off a Joshua error in the bottom of the second inning, the Owls scored twice in the top of the third on an RBI single by Berkner and a two-out RBI double by Massey for a 3-1 lead.
In the sixth inning, Joshua added to its lead with three runs, two of which came off Heritage errors and another on a wild pitch. But the five-run cushion wasn't enough for the Owls.
Poindexter allowed seven hits, two earned runs and two walks with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
Rylan Figueroa allowed eight hits, two earned runs and one walk with five strikeouts in six innings.
Only four of the 13 combined runs scored in the game were earned.
The Owls and Jaguars will square off at 7 p.m. Friday in Joshua. If Heritage win, the Jaguars are in the playoffs with Joshua and Mansfield Summit eliminated.
If Joshua wins and Cleburne beats Mansfield Summit, Joshua and Heritage will finish tied for fourth place. If Joshua wins and Summit beats Cleburne, there will be a three-way tie for fourth place. In either of those scenarios, there will be a tiebreaker game (or games) required to determine the No. 4 seed.
