Wildcats Rally to Eliminate Hillcrest
Hillcrest took its area-round baseball playoff series to the limit before being eliminated on Saturday, when the Panthers fell to Prosper Walnut Grove 7-1 in the third and deciding game of a Class 5A Region II series in Plano.
Pitching depth wound up making a difference in the series, as the Wildcats took a 6-0 lead in the third inning of the final game after a pair of low-scoring nailbiters. The Panthers (23-10) registered only 10 hits in the three games combined.
Hillcrest took the series opener 4-1 on Thursday behind a stellar outing from Kansas State signee Robert Hamman, who struck out eight over 6.2 innings. Nomar Perez drove in two runs and hit a double.
Walnut Grove bounced back with a 3-1 triumph to even the series on Friday despite a two-hitter by Hillcrest’s Cesar Cordero, who also tallied a key hit.
The consecutive defeats snapped a 10-game winning streak for Hillcrest, which reached the second round of postseason play for the sixth consecutive season.
