HEATH – There will be considerable head-scratching all over Buffalo Creek this weekend after Rockwall-Heath's stunning 12-0 run-rule loss to Texarkana Texas on Friday.
All the stars were aligned for Heath to bounce back from Thursday's loss and push the best-of-3 series to a deciding Game 3. This time, it was Texas' turn to take the 160-mile bus ride. Heath starter James Baune was locked and loaded, too.
Instead, Texas needed just five innings to win the Class 4A regional semifinal series.
Heath (27-10) commited three errors in the second, leading to a seven-run inning. Slade Heathcott's two-run homer gave Texas a 7-0 lead. The visitors tacked on two more in the third and three in the fifth.
John Branum and Drew VerHagen were the only two Heath players who got hits off Texas starter Josh Turley.
In Harvey's mind, though, Heath is just getting started. The third-year varsity program has already gone deeper into the playoffs faster than anyone imagined and cranked out at least 10 major college recruits.
"I really believe that we've set a mark now that we're going to achieve every single year," Harvey said. "Fourth [playoff] round and beyond, that's our goal.
"We have the talent coming back to be just as good, if not better."
Texas High probably celebrated all night long on the ride back to the Texas-Arkansas border. But Heath players weren't hanging their heads.
"We're definitely not going to think about this score as an indication of our season," said Heath senior Charlie Martin, who is headed to Texas Tech.
"With what we had, I thought we had a great season."
