ROCKWALL, Texas-Texas High held the lead against Forney briefly, but the Jackrabbits rallied for seven unanswered runs.
Forney thwarted the Tigers' hopes of stealing Game 1 of the best-of-3 series on the road with its late outburst, taking a 9-3 victory over Texas High Thursday at Hawk Field on the campus of Rockwall Heath.
Game 2 is set for 7 p.m. at Tiger Field, and should the Tigers force a third game, it is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday at Heath.
Mason Englert needed all 110 pitches-the limit on starters-to work six innings on the mound. He allowed three runs on nine hits, struck out 10 and walked two.
Cameron Radney absorbed the loss, working five innings and throwing 85 pitches. He allowed five runs on eight hits and walked one.
Tyler Dickey was 4 for 4 with two RBI and four runs scored for the Jackrabbits (23-11-1), and Ryland Kerby was 2 for 2.
Caden Dickson, Connor Allred and Jakob Hearne had two hits each for the Tigers (26-6). THS had five infield hits and was successful on 6 of 7 steal attempts.
Hearne lined the first pitch he saw into center field for a 1-out single for the Tigers in the first inning, and Allred worked a 2-out walk. A pop out ended the threat.
Jackrabbit leadoff batter Dickey lined a single to center in the bottom of the first, was bunted to second and advanced on Englert's single to left. Dickey scored on Jonathan Childress' sac fly to deep left, and another single put two runners in scoring position. A groundout stranded the pair.
Dickson bounced a 2-out single into center for Texas High in the second inning and stole second base. Adam Quinn's high chopper to third went for an infield hit, and a throwing error on the play allowed Dickson to race home to tie the game.
Chris Sutton singled hard inside the bag at third in the third inning for the Tigers, and Allred chopped a single to put runners on the corners after Sutton had stole second. Allred was picked off for the second out, and Englert struck out the next batter to strand Sutton at third.
Dickey legged out an infield single in the bottom of the third, was bunted to second and moved up on a passed ball. Englert flew out to right for a sacrifice fly, the throw home beating Dickey but a little long as Dickey slid home to make it 2-1 Forney.
Cole Christen beat out an infield hit to lead off the fourth for Texas High, and while the next two batters struck out, Christen moved to second on a passed ball and third on a stolen base.
Quinn plated Christen for the tying run when his slow-roller to second was misplayed for an error.
Hearne singled off of Englert's glove for the fourth infield hit of the game to start the fifth inning. He stole second base and moved to third on Allred's line-drive single to right, and Dakota Turner drove a 1-1 offering deep to left for a sacrifice fly, giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead.
Kerby, who had a single in the second for Forney but was thrown out attempting to steal second, lined a leadoff hit to start the fifth inning. He was bunted to second, and Dickey lined his third hit to shallow right-center, driving in Kerby for the tying run.
Following a walk and fielder's choice, Childress belted a stand-up double to the wall in right-center to give the Jackrabbits a 5-3 lead.
Forney broke the game open in the sixth, a squeeze bunt making it 6-3. Dickey singled in the seventh run, and Englert doubled in a pair with a drive to the alley in right-center.
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Texas High=010=110=0=-=3=9=0
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Cameron Radney, Chris Sutton (6), Cole Christen (6) and Caden Dickson. Mason Englert, Austin Ream (7) and Landon Ervin. WP-Englert. LP-Radney.