At Northeast Texas Community College on Saturday, Texarkana Pleasant Grove qualified for the Class 3A state baseball tournament, defeating Princeton, 14-1, to complete a sweep of the Region II series.

Pleasant Grove won Game 1 of the series, 4-3, on Wednesday.

Pleasant Grove (27-9) took a run-rule victory in Game 2 by scoring nine runs in the top of the fifth.

Pleasant Grove's first three hitters – Aaron Alsup, Jon Phillips and Michael Gilley – reached on ground ball-singles and each scored to stake starter and winner Anthony Sims to a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

Sims allowed only three singles in going the distance to get the win. Princeton starter Jake Gildner took the loss. He did not get out of the second inning as Pleasant Grove increased its lead to 5-0.

Princeton (22-14) cut its deficit to 5-1 in the bottom of the second on a walk to Colton Boddy, a single by Nick Naudin and an RBI grounder by Hunter Wood. Princeton had a chance for more, but Naudin was thrown out at the plate trying to score after a pitch got away from Pleasant Grove catcher Will Powerll.

The score remained 5-1 until the fifth when Pleasant Grove sent 12 batters to the plate. Seven got hits and nine scored. A two-run double by Matt Duff and a two-run single by Cole Riddell were the big hits.

It looked as though Princeton might get out of the inning trailing, 10-1. But a potential inning-ending double-play ball turned into two Princeton errors, and Pleasant Grove went on to score four more runs in the inning.

Noel Nevarez had two of Princeton's three singles.

C. Anthony Mosser