WILLS POINT, Texas-For the ninth straight year, Pleasant Grove swept an area baseball playoff round, this time dispatching Wills Point in two games with a business-like 5-1 road win Saturday at Jack Lester Park.
Senior pitcher Joe Pearlman was in command throughout, striking out nine and holding Wills Point to four hits and the PG offense finally figured Tiger starter Riley Ramsey and scratched out runs in three different innings to pull away. Once again, the Hawks played error-free defense.
"I like these games where I have command of my stuff," said Pearlman, who threw 84 pitches, 61 of them strikes. "I just filled up the strike zone and let my defense help me, and my defense really helped me today."
Hawk second baseman Jacob Smith, who delivered a walk-off homer in Friday night's 11-1 win, turned in a defensive gem in the sixth. With two out and runners on second and third, Wills Point's Jayton Oldacre lofted a Texas leaguer that looked certain to drop into shallow center field. At a full sprint, Smith caught the ball to deny the Tigers a pair of runs.
The victory extended an area-round unbeaten streak to 16 for PG that began in 2008. It also puts the Hawks in a regional quarterfinal match against District 15-4A rival Pittsburg, which has eliminated Bullard and Canton in state playoff action. PG won the district, Pittsburg finished fourth.
Ramsey, a lanky right-hander, kept the Hawks off-balance all day with a medium-speed fastball and bushel of off-speed pitches.
PG finally got on the board when shortstop Caleb Bolden drew a walk in the third and scored on an RBI single by left fielder VaShon Williams.
The Hawks tacked on two runs in the fourth when Heath Ferguson smacked a lead-off double. He scored when Heath Ferguson laid down a bunt and Ramsey threw wildly to first. Mark Ashby followed with the first of two singles on the day to make it 3-0.
It was 5-0 in the middle of the sixth after Pearlman delivered a bases-loaded single to score Ashby and Smith.
The Eagles got one run back in the sixth after loading the bases with one out on two singles and a walk-the only one issued by Pearlman all day. A groundout to the right side brought in a run, but Smith's acrobatic play killed the rally.
Pearlman struck out two and got a pop-up to Smith to slam the door on the Tigers, who finish their season at 16-11. PG improves to 27-4.
The Hawks and Pirates will play a best-of-three series in the Region II-4A quarterfinals, starting with the opening game at Pleasant Grove at 7 p.m. Thursday. Game 2 will be at Pittsburg at 5 p.m. Friday. Game 3, if necessary, will follow on the Pirates' diamond later Friday night.
Though Pleasant Grove swept Pittsburg in the regular season, Pearlman, a four-year baseball letterman, said that it's meaningless at this point.
"I'll keep them humble," he said. "This is the playoffs. Anything can happen. We have to stay focused and execute."
Pleasant Grove 001 202 0 - 5 8 0
Wills Point 000 001 0 - 1 4 1
Joe Pearlman and Mark Ashby. Riley Ramsey, Kolton Adams (6) and Caden Bennett. WP-Pearlman. LP-Ramsey.