McKinney Christian Pushes Through to Beat Pantego Christian 5-4 in Division 3 State Semifinal

TAPPS DIVISION 3 STATE SEMIFINAL

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7		R	H	E
McKinney Christian		0	0	3	0	1	1	0		5	7	5
Pantego Christian		0	0	0	2	1	1	0		4	8	1

McKinney Christian Academy jumped out to an early lead and fought through some errors to defeat Pantego Christian 5-4 in the TAPPS Division 3 State Semifinal Game. McKinney Christian will now meet Northland Christian on Saturday for the Dvision 4 Baseball State Title.

McKinney Christian got on the board first in the top of the 3rd with a big hit from Marc Jensen. They loaded the bases with 2 walks and a John Clark single. With one out Jensen drove one to the wall that cleared the bases and gave McKinney Christian a 3-0 lead.

The score stayed that way until the bottom of the 4th when Pantego Christian got a couple of runs across. Zach Terry started off the inning with an infield single. Titus Collett bunted on the next pitch and a throwing error sent him and Terry to 2nd and 3rd . Michael Scott hit a sacrifice fly to left field scoring Terry. Collett scored when the throw to 3rd on the tag got away from the third baseman. That cut the McKinney Christian lead to 3-2.

McKinney Christian picked up another run in the top of the 5th. Judd Witte was hit by a pitch and went to 3rd on a Teague Spivey double. Jensen picked up his 4th RBI of the night with a Sacrifice Fly that scored Witte and McKinney Christian moved their lead back to two runs, 4-2. Pantego Christian cut it back to a one run game when L Kemp scored on a J Tijerina single in the bottom of the 5th.

McKinney Christian kept the scoring going in the top of the 6th on a Clark triple that scored Cal Miller, moving it back to a 2 run lead, 5-3. But Pantego Christian made a push again in the bottom of the 6th in what proved to be the deciding moment of the game.

Collett led off the inning with a triple and then scored on an error, pulling Pantego Christian again within one, 5-4. Pantego Christian then got runners to 2nd and 3rd with just one out. They were the tying and go ahead runs for Pantego. Marc Jensen had been on the mound for McKinney the whole game and had a big challenge ahead of him. He got the next batter to pop up to shortstop and struck out another for the third out, stranding the Pantego runners and preserving the McKinney Christian lead.

Jensen came out for McKinney Christian hoping to shut down Pantego and get McKinney Christian to the championship game. He would have the #9 hitter and then would have to face the top of the lineup. Jensen was up to the challenge. He got a ground out, a line out and another ground out to retire the side and give McKinney the big win.

Jensen was named the THSB MVP of the game. He was the winning pitcher going 7 innings, giving up 4 unearned runs on 6 hits, 4 strikeouts and no walks. He also was 2-3 at the plate, with a double and 4 RBIs.

“I had no doubt that we would this game,” Jensen explained, “I had full confidence in myself and my team to win. I knew I had to throw strikes and compete and I knew that our offense was going to score runs. I love this team and I know how much we battle and how much we fight. Now we have to go win it all.”

“Whew. I am relieved. This was a wild game.” Head Coach Brady James stated. “We have a good defense and the errors we made tonight are uncharacteristic of us. But I’m proud of our guys for persevering, for sticking with it and getting this win. Our offense has been a staple for us all year. We have some mature hitters and we needed them tonight. And Jensen is such a competitor. He is a fiery guy and and he had a great night tonight all around.