Thursday night around the state…

There were several potent offensive outbursts in all classifications.  Big innings seemed to be the order of the night.

In Class 4A, Cleburne managed to limit top-ranked and undefeated Rockwall-Heath to one four-run inning. However, that would be enough to deliver a 4-1 victory and send Rockwall-Heath’s season record to 38-0.

The fifth inning seemed charmed for a handful of teams. In 5A Region III, Houston Memorial got a pair of grand slam home runs, one of which came in a seven-run fifth inning, to hammer Brazoswood, 16-5, in a five-inning run-rule victory.

In their 3A-IV opener, Giddings used a three-run fifth inning to help break open a low-scoring contest against Robstown on the way to an 8-2 win. Orangefield posted a four-run fifth inning to help them to a 7-4 win over Robinson.

In Game 1 of the 1A-I series between Stamford and Miles, Stamford scored five runs in the third en route to a 10-2 win.

Overton got a pair of four-run innings in their 8-2 win over Evadale to take a 1-0 lead in their 1A-III best-of-three series.  Meanwhile, Cayuga needed nine innings to defeat Lovelady, 6-5, in the opener of the other 1A-III semifinal series.

Klein was relentless against Tyler Lee in their Game 1 9-2 win in Class 5A Region II.  The Bearkats scored in all but one at-bat, including a pair of three-run innings.  Meanwhile, district mates Klein Collins gave up a five-run lead to Belton, who rallied for a walkoff 8-7 win in the other 5A-II semifinal series.

There were some notable mound efforts as well.

Juan Carlos Palomo threw a complete game three-hitter as Presidio shut out Bangs, 4-0, in their single-game playoff in Class 2A Region I.  Presidio moves to the regional championship next week against the winner of the Bushland-Jim Ned series.

In Game 1 of their 2A-III series, White Oak defeated Corrigan-Camden, 6-0, behind a complete-game, five-hit performance by Joseph Gawrieh.

Brenham’s Ty Schlottmann struck out 10 batters in 6-2/3 innings as the Cubs cruised to a 6-1 win over Texas City in the first game of their 4A-III matchup.  Brenham will send undefeated Chase Wellbrock (14-0) against the Stingarees tonight as they look to wrap up the series.