When top-ranked Collinsville and no. 2 Valley Mills met in a Region II-Class 2A best-of-three championship series last week, it proved to be a matchup for the ages.
The Pirates prevailed in three games to seal their second consecutive region title and second trip to the state tournament in as many seasons.
Collinsville (38-3) won the series opener, 7-1, on May 29, lost the second game, 10-7, on May 30, but won the rubber game, 15-11, on May 31, in a series that took place at Aledo High School.
The Pirates met Centerville Wednesday afternoon in the semifinals at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock. The winner advanced to Thursday’s championship game to take on the winner between Flatonia and Hawley.
Game Three
Collinsville 15, Valley Mills 11
Collinsville scored 13 of its 15 runs between the third and sixth innings to rally for a 15-11 victory last Friday. The Pirates trailed 8-2 after two innings before mounting their comeback.
Jaxon Jenkins hit an RBI single and Peyton Davidson hit a two-run triple to pull Collinsville within three, 8-5, in the top of the third.
The Eagles scored a run in the bottom of the third to increase their lead to 9-5, but the Pirates answered in the top of the fourth when Colin Barnes scored on a wild pitch and Cash Morgan hit an RBI single to trim their deficit to 9-7.
Valley Mills scored a run in the bottom of the fourth to make it 10-7, but Collinsville struck again in the top of the fifth.
Logan Jenkins hit an RBI double, Jaxon Jenkins drove in the tying run with a groundout, and Logan Jenkins scored the go ahead run on an error to put the Pirates back on top, 11-10.
The Eagles scored the tying run in the bottom of the fifth, but were unable to regain the lead. Collinsville put the game out of reach in the top of the sixth.
Reed Patterson drove in a run with a groundout, Jaxon Jenkins hit a two-run single and Logan Jenkins scored on an error to put the Pirates up 15-11.
Garrett Trevino pitched the last two innings of relief and retired each of the six batters he faced.
Jaxon Jenkins pitched five innings for Collinsville to earn his first playoff win on the mound. He also went 2-4 with two walks and four RBIs at the plate.
Logan Jenkins (3-3, BB, 2 HBP, 2B, 2 RBI) led Collinsville at the plate and Barnes (2-3, 2 BB) also had multiple hits.
Davidson (1-4, BB, 3B, RBI), Morgan (1-2, 2 BB, SAC, RBI), Patterson (1-3, BB, SAC, RBI), Logan Carpenter (1-4, HBP) and Rylan Newman (1-5) also contributed.
Game Two
Valley Mills 10, Collinsville 7 (9 innings)
The Pirates were unable to hang on to a 7-3 lead as they lost the second game of the series, 10-7, in nine innings. The loss also snapped Collinsville’s school record 35-game winning streak.
Valley Mills used two errors and a single to plate three runs in the top of the ninth to take a 10-7 lead. The Pirates were unable to score after that.
Collinsville scored all of its runs in the first four innings. After giving up a pair of runs in the top of the first, Trevino and Morgan drove in runs with a groundout and a single, respectively, to tie the game at 2 after one inning of play.
The Eagles scored a run in the top of the second, but Logan Jenkins hit an RBI triple to tie it up, 3-3, after two complete. Jaxon Jenkins hit an RBI single and scored on a double steal to give the Pirates a 5-3 lead after three innings.
Morgan and Jaxon Jenkins hit an RBI triple and single, respectively, to increase the Collinsville lead to 7-3 after four. But Valley Mills scored two runs in each of the next two frames to tie the game at 7 before winning it in the ninth.
Morgan (3-4, 3B, 2 RBI) led Collinsville at the plate, while Jaxon Jenkins (2-4, BB, 2 RBI) and Logan Jenkins (2-4, BB, 3B, RBI) also had multiple hits. Davidson (1-4) also contributed.
Game One
Collinsville 7, Valley Mills 1
The Pirates scored six runs in the first three innings and had solid pitching from Newman as they won the series opener, 7-1. Newman struck out eight batters and surrendered just one run on three hits in 6.2 innings of work.
Trevino hit an RBI single to put Collinsville on top, 1-0, in the top of the first. Davidson and Patterson each hit RBI singles in the top of the second before Patterson scored on a double steal to increase the Collinsville lead to 4-0.
In the top of the third, Morgan and Davidson recorded RBIs on a single and sacrifice bunt, respectively, to put their team up 6-0.
The Eagles scored a run in the bottom of the fourth before Newman hit an RBI double in the top of the seventh to cap the scoring.
Morgan (2-3, RBI) led the Pirates at the plate. Davidson (1-2, SAC, 2 RBI), Newman (1-3, HBP, 2B, RBI), Patterson (1-4, RBI), Trevino (1-3, HBP, RBI), Jaxon Jenkins (1-3) and Logan Jenkins (1-3, BB, 3B) also contributed.