For the third time in as many seasons, the Collinsville baseball team is in the region final round.
The Pirates reached the round with a two-game sweep of Axtell at Weatherford High School. Collinsville (36-2) won the series opener, 2-1, on Wednesday, and clinched the series with an 11-6 win on Thursday.
The Pirates face Valley Mills in the region final. Details on the matchup will be posted when they are available.
GAME TWO
COLLINSVILLE 11, AXTELL 6
Logan Jenkins used his arm and his bat to help Collinsville put the series away on Thursday. The senior struck out nine batters in six innings of work, and was 4-of-5 with a double and three RBIs at the plate.
Axtell scored a run in each of the first two innings to take a 2-0 lead. The Longhorns used a walk-sacrifice bunt-single combination in each of those frames to score their runs.
But the Pirates' bats started to come to life in the bottom of the third. Cash Morgan and Jaxon Jenkins hit back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game at 2.
A hit batsman and two errors loaded the bases for Logan Jenkins in the bottom of the fourth. He responded with a two-run double before Rylan Newman hit a three-run homerun on the next pitch to increase Collinsville's lead to 7-2.
The Pirates had an RBI groundout from Landon Carpenter and an RBI single from Logan Jenkins to increase their team's lead to 9-2 after five innings of play. Collinsville added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth off of a two-run inside-the-park homer from Peyton Davidson.
Axtell used three singles and two hit batsmen to score four runs in the top of the seventh, but it wasn't enough.
In addition to Logan Jenkins, Davidson (2-3, BB, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) also had multiple hits. Carpenter (1-3, HBP, RBI), Morgan (1-4, RBI), Newman (1-3, HBP, HR, 3 RBI), Colin Barnes (1-4), Jaxon Jenkins (1-1, 2 BB, HBP, RBI) and Reed Patterson (0-3, 2 BB) also contributed.
GAME ONE
COLLINSVILLE 2, AXTELL 1
The Pirates used two errors and a double to score two runs in the top of the seventh to rally for a 2-1 victory in Wednesday's series opener. Newman went the distance on the mound, striking out 10, while giving up a run on two hits.
Axtell used a single and a double in the bottom of the second to score its only run. That lead stood until the top of the seventh.
Garrett Trevino reached base on an error and scored the tying run on a Jaxon Jenkins double. Jenkins scored the winning run on a double.
Newman retired three of the four batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh to clinch the game. Trevino (2-3, 2B) led Collinsville at the plate.
Carpenter, Davidson and Logan Jenkins all went 1-for-3 at the plate. Jaxon Jenkins was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
See next week's print edition of the Whitesboro News-Record for photos from the series against Axtell.