Moving on: Wakeland sweeps Poteet, Reedy outlasts Liberty in regional quarterfinals

Reedy, on the other hand, was in uncharted waters, as it was making its first trip to the regional quarterfinals.

Both teams kept their dreams of their first state championship alive as each was able to navigate their way to the regional semifinals.

Wakeland, the fourth seed out of 9-5A, has saved its best baseball of the season for the right time and that continued with a sweep of Poteet in their Class 5A Region II quarterfinal best-of-3 series at John Paul II High School.

The Wolverines took the early advantage in Game 1 with a 5-1 victory.

Zeke Alexander did the job on the mound, striking out seven and allowing only three hits, with no earned runs, in a 5-1 victory.

Pirates starter Bret Jones retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced, but Wakeland was able to strike in the top of the fifth inning.

Sam Friedman led off with a single and Dylan Snead and Jayce Kwiatkowski followed with bunt base hits to load the bases with nobody out.

Poteet got one out, but Will Jamison singled home a run, Addison Brown had a sacrifice fly and two runs came around to score on an error to stake the Wolverines to a 4-0 lead.

The Pirates pushed across a run in the bottom of the sixth on a RBI single from Christian Benson, but Wakeland matched it with an unearned run in the top of the seventh, and then after a leadoff walk, Alexander struck out two of the next three batters he faced to close it out.

After Game 2 was delayed due to the rains that hit the area on Friday, it was a similar story on Saturday, as the Wolverines completed the sweep with a 5-0 victory.

Carson Priebe was in control on the mound, striking out 10 in a complete-game one-hitter.

Poteet actually had the first chance when Traelyn James led off the top of the second inning with a double, but he was stranded there, and that would be the last hit Priebe would allow.

Wakeland threatened in the bottom of the frame, loading the bases, but Benson was able to get out of the jam.

The Pirates were not as fortunate in the bottom of the third.

Brown led off with a single, Priebe helped his own cause with a RBI single and he came around to score on a double by Owen Cassano to grab a 2-0 lead.

The Wolverines added insurance in the later innings, as Friedman singled home a run in the fifth and Brown belted a two-run home run in the sixth to extend the advantage to 5-0 and Priebe retired the side in order in the seventh to finish it off.

Wakeland will meet Whitehouse, the second seed out of 15-5A, in the regional semifinals later this week at a time and place to be determined.

Reedy might have been making its first appearance in the third round, but it played like veterans on Saturday in a winner-take-all Game 3 against Liberty, as it rolled to a 10-0 victory.

The Redhawks, who were making their deepest run since 2015, were unable to solve starter Jack Jorgenson, who picked up the win on the mound.

The Lions got triples from Ryan Alexander and Caden Jones and doubles from Jalen Stringfellow and Brandon Huff to ignite the offense, and that would be enough for Jorgenson.

Liberty had forced a decisive game with a 8-1 win on Friday in a game moved up into the afternoon due to the threat of weather.

The Redhawks got a strong performance from Jensen Cockrell on the mound, as he picked up the victory, and Ryan Healey sparked the offense with a double and a triple.

Stringfellow belted a solo home run for Reedy, but that was its lone run of the game.

In the opener, the Lions erupted on offense as they pulled away for a 16-3 victory.

Will Johnson was the beneficiary of the run support, as he picked up the win on the mound.

Jones doubled and tripled, Maddox Silva had a pair of doubles and Alexander, Stringfellow and Ethan Downum added extra-base hits for Reedy.

Liberty got a home run from Jeffrey Claycomb and an extra-base hit from Cooper Wixon, but could not keep pace.

Reedy makes its first appearance in the Class 5A Region II semifinals when it takes on Longview, a fourth seed out of 15-5A that upended its district champion Hallsville to advance.

That best-of-3 series is scheduled to get started at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Longview. The series shifts to Reedy for Game 2 at 2 p.m. Saturday, with the third game, if necessary, to be played 30 minutes after the conclusion.