The Aubrey Chaparrals fell behind but clawed their way back to beat the Sunnyvale Raiders two games to one, punching their ticket to the 4A Region II Regional Finals for the second time in school history.
The Raiders won Game 1, 8-4, but the Chaparrals found their footing in Game 2 and powered their way to back-toback wins to take the series.
“They’re playing really good baseball right now, and they’re playing together as a team,” Aubrey head baseball coach Nathan Henry said. “… It’s the second time we’ve lost Game 1 and had our backs against the wall, and they just showed up and competed.”
Sunnyvale got on the scoreboard first in Game 1, opening the series with a 4-0 scoring run in the bottom of the first inning.
The Raiders added to their lead in the second and third innings, scoring their fifth and sixth runs in the bottom of the second inning and taking a 6-0 lead.
The Chaps got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning when Jimmy Hay hit a triple to center field that emptied the bases, driving in 3 runs.
Keriel Torres drove in Aubrey’s fourth run with a line drive single, cutting Sunnyvale’s lead to 2.
Despite the Chaps’ scoring burst, the Raiders went on to add two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and held on to win 8-4.
Game 2 was a lower-scoring contest, with Aubrey striking first when Dane Buck drove in a run with a line drive double to right field, putting the Chaps on top 1-0 in the bottom of the third.
Aubrey added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning with another hit by Buck and a ground ball single hit by Hay, making the score 3-0.
Sunnyvale picked up a run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Chaps’ defense held, allowing Aubrey to take the win 3-1, tying the series.
“Our defense was really good that game,” Hay said. “Luke [Hellman] made a lot of great plays at shortstop, and we just stayed focused in the field, made a lot of routine plays and snuck a few runs across [the plate] and got the win.”
Sunnyvale scored first in Game 3 with a line drive to center and added a second run in the top of the second, taking a 2-0 lead, but it was all Aubrey after that, with the Chaps scoring 5 runs unanswered to take the win 5-2 and the series.
Jax Dunkin earned the win on the mound, with 3 strikeouts and allowing 6 hits and 2 earned runs.
“It was the first time I started a full game; I’m usually the closer, but it definitely felt good to pitch that complete game and help my team to get the win,” he said. “We’re hoping we can take this to State, but that’s probably every teams’ goal at this point, so we have to keep that in mind.”
Aubrey will meet district rival Frisco Panther Creek in the next round, and Hellman, who led Aubrey from the batter’s box with 5 hits in the series, said the Chaps are looking forward to facing off against a familiar foe.
“It’s going to be a good matchup,” he said. “We’re a different team than we were when we played them earlier this season. What we’ve been doing in practice has been helping us a lot, and we’ve grown as a team, so we know it’s going to be a good series.”
Aubrey and Frisco Panther Creek were scheduled to start a bestof- three series on Thursday at 6 p.m., the results of which were not available by press time.
Game 2 is scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m. and Game 3, if necessary, at 2 p.m. Saturday.
All games will be played at Little Elm High School.
