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On the Rebound: Bulldogs return to playoffs but fall short of first-round upset
Photo courtesy of Kellie Anfosso
By Andrew Snyder, asnyder@starlocalnews.com
After splitting a pair of low-scoring games with state favorite Frisco Wakeland, the McKinney North baseball team came within striking distance of a colossal upset in a 13-10 loss last Saturday that settled its best-of-3 bi-district playoffs series against the Wolverines.
Saturday's slugfest reversed the trend set by the series' two prior games. The Wolverines won Game 1 by a slim 2-1 margin before North answered with an even tidier 1-0 win behind the pitching of senior Will Cooper to reset the series and force the deciding game.
Things spun out of control from there as the Bulldogs and Wolverines doubled their run production for the series in just an inning of work in Game 3.
It did in a way, but not before North pushed the Wolverines to the brink of elimination. The Bulldogs scored four runs in the third and fourth innings to jump ahead 9-4 in the deciding game. In full upset mode now, they went on to answer another pair of Wakeland runs with one of their own to cruise into the bottom of the sixth up, 10-6.
Saving their No. 2 pitcher, Will Schwanke, for Game 3 hadn't played out for Wakeland, and things were beginning to look dire for a team that had relied on strong pitching and an opportunistic offense to edge out opponents this season.
The high point of the Bulldogs’ season didn't last long though, as a seven-run rally from Wakeland in the bottom of the sixth turned the game around once again. The Wolverines needed some big hits to get back in the game and they got the biggest of all off the bat of Cameron Brockhoff, who hit a grand slam to power the rally.
Wakeland blanked North, which tallied 11 hits on the night, in the seventh to seal the win and advance to an area-round matchup against Dallas Bryan Adams, which in turn, routed Molina in a one-game playoff, 15-5, to reach the second round.
Wakeland's come-from-behind win closed what was otherwise a productive season for North on a sour note. After failing to make the playoffs and winning just one district game in 2011, the Bulldogs returned to postseason action the hard way this season.
After opening the year with a pair of tournament wins at the Carrollton Creekview Tournament and the Carrollton Diamond Classic, the Bulldogs cruised into district with a 7-1 record. They couldn't maintain that pace and settled into a .500 clip in district, finishing with a 7-7 record overall to narrowly make the playoffs. Wylie East, whom they split with during district, tailed the Bulldogs until the bitter end. North beat Wylie, 4-1, in the final game of the regular season to make the playoffs and ended up beating out the Raiders by just one game.
That game also doubled as their last in District 10-4A, as the Bulldogs will join Denison, Greenville, Lovejoy, Royse City, Sherman, Wylie and Wylie East in District 13-4A for the 2013-2014 baseball seasons.
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