TEXARKANA, Texas -- Spencer Browning dominated in relief on the mound and drove in the winning run as Pleasant Grove rallied for a 3-2, extra-inning win over crosstown rival Liberty-Eylau on Tuesday night.
The stands were packed and both fence lines jammed 2-3 deep at Hawk Field as two teams expected to make deep playoff runs looked every bit the part. Partisans on both sides had plenty to cheer about as both teams delivered sparkling defense, dominant pitching, and clutch hitting.
"That's baseball in Texarkana," said PG coach Riley Fincher. "This was a great win over a talented and tough opponent. There are two great teams just a few miles apart."
"That was a great game," said L-E coach Zach Fowler. "You can win a lot of baseball games playing as well as we did tonight. It's fun playing a team that good. We'll see them again in two weeks."
For the moment, Pleasant Grove (11-7-1, 5-0) has sole possession of first place in District 15-4A over No. 2 state-ranked L-E (14-5-1, 4-1) but the two will meet twice more in the next month, including a rematch at PG to end the regular season on April 26.
Pleasant Grover starting pitcher Walker Wright scattered five hits and walked but one. He seemed to be in command until W.T. Jones scratched out a two-out infield hit in the third inning. Tristan Hough, who started on the mound for L-E, followed with a solid single to center.
Collin Evans followed with a scorching line drive to deep center that Hunter Rose was unable to catch up with, giving the Leopards a 2-0 lead. They looked like they would extend the lead in the third when Eli Jarvis drew a lead-off walk and moved to second on Gabe Jarvis' sacrifice bunt.
Browning, an Arkansas signee, came on and promptly struck out Maddux Moore. Dylan Nabors came up with a two-strike, two-out single to left but Jace Elrod ended the inning by gunning down Eli Jarvis at the plate with three steps to spare.
Over the next four innings, Browning gave up one walk and one hit but struck out five to hold L-E scoreless the rest of the way.
"Spencer Browing grew up as a ball player tonight," said Fincher. "First he made some great plays at third, then he held a really good hitting team at bay to give his team a chance to win the game."
For the longest, L-E's 2-0 lead looked like it might stand up. Haugh carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. One Hawk reached on a catcher interference call, and another on a walk, but other than that it was nothing but goose eggs for the home team through five.
No. 9 hitter Ty Boozer led off the sixth with a single and second-baseman Brenton Clark, another Arkansas signee, hit a scorcher over the right-field wall to tie the game.
Fowler brought in Cam Gamble, who silenced Hawk bats, striking out four of the next seven hitters.
"I can't complain about our pitching tonight," said Fincher. "Both did an excellent job."
With one down in the bottom of the eighth, Boozer singled to center. Jarrett Halter came up with a two-out double to move the runners into scoring position. Browning hit a screaming line drive to deep center and, this time, Leopard centerfielder Will Tipton could not flag it down.
L-E will host Sulphur Springs (3-13, 1-3) Friday, while PG will travel to Paris (4-9, 0-4).