With the outright District 2-6A championship in sight for Frenship, and a chance to force a winner-take-all rematch in sight for Odessa Permian, the two rivals faced off on Tuesday at McCanlies Field in Odessa.
The victory was the eighth in a row in District 2-6A play for the Tigers (14-3) and allowed them to secure the district title with one game remaining for the same two teams as they meet again Friday night in Odessa.
“What a great high school baseball game,” Frenship coach Chad Reynolds said. “The last two years when we’ve gotten the schedule, we’ve looked at it and thought ‘That last series of the year could really mean something,’ and it has.”
Frenship started off strong with a four-run 1st inning, fueled by Hudson Hutcheson's two-out, bases-loaded triple.
Later on Coldon Kiser set the stage for the Tigers with a leadoff walk followed by Lawson Peel's game-knotting sacrifice fly.
The lead remained in the 4th, 11-6 when a hit batter, Nano Mendoza’s double and three Permian errors in a span of 2 minutes swung in Frenship's favor. Carter Estill drove home the third run with Frenship’s second sacrifice fly and Brady Boles tacked on his second hit.
“I’m just so proud of our guys for the way they competed,” Reynolds said. “We could’ve put them away, but we didn’t and then we had to show something to not lose it in the 7th when they came back on us."
The Tigers walked away victorious with the nail-biting 12-11 win over the Panthers.
Frenship and Odessa Permian will face off for the final series match-up tonight, Friday, April 29 in Odessa as the Tigers prepare for the Bi-District series. (Game times and dates are TBD.)