EULA — After pitching dominated the thrilling opener of the Class 1A state semifinal series between Gordon and Hamlin on Thursday, it became apparent immediately Saturday afternoon that Game 2 would be a different kind of game.

The two teams combined for 10 runs over the first two innings and left a combined eight runners on base on top of that, setting the stage for a battle of wills and pitching depth that the Longhorns would eventually win 18-8 in six innings.

Aiden Shank, who pitched a complete-game shutout on Thursday to put GHS in position to complete the series sweep, went 3 for 4 with two home runs and five RBIs while Stryker Reed pitched the the final five innings of the game and added a bomb of his own to fuel the Longhorns past Hamlin and into the state championship game for the second year in a row.

With Saturday’s victory, coach Ligon West’s squad earned a state finals matchup with Groveton Centerville, scheduled for 9 a.m. next Saturday at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.

EULA — To say there wasn’t much separating the Gordon and Hamlin baseball teams Thursday in the opener of their Class 1A state semifinal series would be a fairly substantial understatement.

At the end of a game that was played from start to finish on a razor’s edge, the deciding factor a bases-loaded catcher’s interference call in the seventh inning that plated the game’s only run,  lifting the Longhorns to a 1-0 walk-off win at the Eula Athletic Complex.

With Gordon’s Aiden Shank and Hamlin’s Ian Gruben matching each other zero for zero, wiggling out of what little trouble they found themselves in throughout the night, the game looked like it might be destined for extra innings when Gruben closed his outing on the mound by striking out Corvin Seymour with one out and the bases jammed in the seventh. But facing a 2-2 count against HHS reliever Isaiah Hutchings, Jasper Clark’s swing clipped the mitt of Javie Ramos, who had come in to replace Hutchings behind the plate.

Clark immediately reacted, but there was no call initially. After a brief meeting between the game’s four umpires, it was ruled that it was, indeed, catcher’s interference, forcing Brayden Walters home from third to end a thrilling pitchers’ duel in a strange — and strangely anticlimactic — way.

EULA — The Hamlin baseball team scored the final four runs Wednesday to rally for a 5-2 win over May in the opener of a Region I-1A semifinal series at the Eula Athletic Complex.

Trailing 2-1 after an inning, the Pied Pipers bookended a two-run fourth with single runs in the third and fifth, and that was more than enough offense for starter Ian Gruben, who shut the Tigers out in the final six innings of a complete-game gem.

The victory improved Hamlin to 17-1 on the year and gives the Pipers an opportunity to close out the best-of-three series when it resumes at 6 p.m. Thursday with Game 2. Should the Tigers (16-2) bounce back to take that one, a decisive third game would be played on Monday.