Eagles’ baseball headed to TAPPS title game

The high school baseball private school playoff field has been narrowed to two teams who will clash this weekend for a state championship, and one of them is from the local area.

On Tuesday night, the St. Thomas Eagles flew past San Antonio Antonian Prep by a score of 6-0 in a TAPPS Division I state semifinal at Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington, punching their ticket to the state championship game this weekend.

It is the eighth state final appearance for the Eagles since 2010, but their first berth in the title game since the 2019 season. When they take the field, the Eagles will be gunning for the program’s first Division I state crown since the 2017 campaign and its 25^th overall baseball state title.

St. Thomas used a six-run fourth inning to jump on top Tuesday night, and that proved to be more than enough to earn their way to the final. Donte Lewis and Adam Equale both had two RBIs apiece in the big fourth inning for St. Thomas, while Luke Edgecomb and Billy Theroux also drove home a run apiece. In addition to his exploits at the plate, Lewis threw five shutout innings on the mound with seven strikeouts to earn the victory.

And what’s more, the berth in the semifinals almost never materialized. On May 12, the Eagles had to rally late for a 4-3 win over Plano John Paul II in the quarterfinals. Equale provided the biggest heroics of the night for the Eagles, smashing a two-run homer in the sixth inning to give St. Thomas its first and only lead of the game – one they would not relinquish over the final two innings.

Josh Caldwell and Braydon Salinas each had RBIs in addition to Equale, while Lewis provided another strong outing on the mound by giving up just two runs on five hits in 5.1 innings of work with three strikeouts along the way.

Heights softball season ends in regional quarterfinals

Last weekend was unfortunately not as kind for the Heights Lady Bulldogs, as they fell to regional power Fort Bend Ridge Point in two games in a Region III-6A quarterfinal series to watch their season come to a close. The Lady Bulldogs lost 17-3 on May 11 and 8-7 in extra innings on May 12 to end their 2023 campaign.

Sydney Palomo led the way for Heights with five total hits including a triple and two RBIs in the series, while Laila Robins and Kennedy Hill each homered in the Game 2 loss. Angelina del Pozo also had two RBIs in Game 2.

Despite the loss, however, the 2023 campaign will go down in the history books for the Lady Bulldogs. During the course of the season, Heights won the first Class 6A district title in program history while also boasting a perfect district record as part of a 26-game unbeaten streak, along with making it to the regional quarterfinals for the first time in program history.

The Lady Bulldogs finished the 2023 season with a 29-5-1 overall record.