The Collinsville Pirates baseball team is sailing back to Round Rock after sweeping the Stamford Bulldogs in the state semifi nals two games to none May 29.
The Pirates pounced on their opponent early and never relented, winning both games with the final score of 6-1.
“In the first game, we played pretty well,” Collinsville head baseball coach Derrick Jenkins said. “We played defense and [Garrett] Trevino pitched well. … Game 2, we left a lot of guys on base and had a few guys thrown out, but that's what we do. We're going to play aggressive the whole time, so we're trying to score six to eight runs a game. We did those things, ended up winning 6-1 and moved on.”
Collinsville first baseman Cash Morgan put the Pirates on the scoreboard first with a line drive double to right field that drove in one run.
Outfielder Caysen Schafer kept the rally going with a line drive double to left field that drove two runs,
Jenna Howard/The Post-Signal putting the Pirates up 3-0 in the top of the first inning.
Collinsville second baseman Jaxon Spivey picked up another run for the Pirates after stealing home in the second inning.
The Pirates would go on to outscore the Bulldogs 2-1 after Stamford’s pitcher struck a Collinsville batter and walked the next batter with the bases loaded, giving the Pirates the 6-1 win.
Stamford scored first in Game 2 on a balk from Collinsville’s pitcher, but the Pirates righted the ship and rolled through the Bulldogs’ defense with six runs unanswered.
Collinsville took the lead, 2-1, in the bottom of the first inning and pulled away from Stamford when catcher Peyton Davidson brought in three runs with a double to left field, giving the Pirates a 5-1 lead.
The Pirates would add one more run in the bottom of the fifth inning after Stamford walked a batter with the bases loaded, sealing the 6-1 victory for Collinsville and sending the Pirates back to the state championship.
With the biggest game of the season up next, Jenkins said the Pirates are making sure they are as prepared as possible before their matchup with the 31-7 Overton Mustangs.
“They’re aggressive on the bases,” he said. “That's the biggest thing we looked at. We just have to do a good job of taking care of things on defense, and if we can handle them there and go get the first out, I think they'll have a hard time scoring runs.”
Morgan, who was selected as the MVP for last year’s championship game, echoed his coach’s sentiments.
“We’re focused on not letting the moment be too big,” he said. 'It’s really easy sometimes as a young kid to let the moment kind of consume you and let the game overwhelm you, but we have to just control your butterflies, relax and go to work and focus on the task at hand.”
Collinsville was scheduled to meet Overton at 9 a.m. Thursday at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.
