The Seven Lakes Spartans stormed the field like state champs Saturday night after surviving a Game 2 that took 10 hours to complete.
They were choking back tears by early Sunday morning.
Cypress Ranch, after dropping Game 2, which started at Seven Lakes and finished at Angleton, rolled 9-0 in Game 3 to clinch the Region III-6A area playoff in three games – at 1:55 a.m. Sunday.
“That was a crazy series right there,” Cy Ranch coach John Pope said.
Cy Ranch (22-10-1) won Game 1 10-5 on Friday at home.
Andrew Knutson delivered the first pitch in Saturday’s doubleheader, which spanned 13 hours, at 12:55 p.m. at Seven Lakes.
At 3:50 p.m., with Game 2 tied 3-3 in the ninth – Seven Lakes scored in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings – lightning moved within eight miles, forcing everybody off the field.
Lightning continued the next two hours – then rain came in sheets.
So, at 6:30 p.m., after Seven Lakes coach J.R. Voyles said they contacted dozens of schools trying to find an alternate location, Angleton athletic director Ryan Roark made his field available.
The players then boarded their buses and made the trek 60 miles southeast to Angleton, where play was set to resume at 8:30 p.m. when the lightning tracked them down, forcing another delay.
They finally restarted at 9:15 p.m. – then went 3½ scoreless innings.
The Mustangs struck first at Angleton, with Marshall Skinner giving them a 6-3 lead with a three-run double in the 13th, but they stranded three and the Spartans took advantage, answering with four runs in the bottom of the 13th to walk off with a 7-6 win on Conner Capel’s RBI single.
Total time elapsed during Game 2 – nine hours, 59 minutes.
Game 3 began at 11:29 p.m. and lasted until 1:55 a.m. Sunday, with Cy Ranch clinching a spot in the regional quarterfinals.
“It’s amazing,” Eric Bohnert said. “It was good day – it was a long day – but Coach Pope really keeps us on our toes, and we just had to stay focused. This series reminded me of last year with Lamar. It was long, we went into extra innings two games (and) we came out on top, so it was good.”
Bohnert paced Cy Ranch’s offense with 12 plate appearances across 20 innings.
The center fielder finished the day 6-for-10 with four doubles, four runs scored, three RBIs and one walk.
“I was in the zone,” Bohnert said. “I’ve been working really hard, so it’s a good feeling.”
Skinner went 4-for-10 with four RBIs, Tyler Bielamowicz, who threw the first seven innings of Game 2, supplied five RBIs, Colton Cowser was 4-for-10, and Garrett Herrmann and Hayden Evans had three hits each.
But Cy Ranch, which racked up 26 hits, stranded 18 in Game 2 – and 28 on the day.
Sidney McWhite, who absorbed the Game 2 loss after coming in with bases loaded in the 13th inning, started Game 3 and earned the victory, allowing only two hits through six scoreless innings.
Seven Lakes made 10 pitching changes in the doubleheader, with four pitchers throwing in both games.
But Chris Parsons picked up the Game 2 win and Game 3 loss.
Capel, Bryan Sturges, Max Mize and Lamar Sparks notched three hits apiece, and Sparks reached in his last seven appearances (four walks, three hits), but the Spartans stranded 20 total baserunners.
“Things happen,” Voyles said. “Both teams played hard. They’re a good team, and they’re defending state champions for a reason.
“They kept fighting, and in the end they came out on top.”
