An amazing year of firsts for the North Forney Falcons ended last Saturday, May 8, with a disappointing 2-1 series loss to the Ennis Lions in the bi-district round of the UIL baseball playoffs.
Picked to finish fourth, battling for a playoff spot, in the District 13-5A baseball season, the Falcons instead rolled to an 8-0 start in district play. Included in those games was a first-ever two-game sweep of rival Forney. After splitting with Highland Park in week five of district play, the Falcons held the keys to their firstever district baseball title.
They completed their run with an anticlimactic, stormshortened 12-2 win over Greenville in the season finale in which they were informed the game had gone final, meaning they were district champions, while waiting out a lightning delay on a school bus in the parking lot at Greenville High School.
North Forney finished with a 13-1 record in district. At the end of the regular season, the Falcons were 28-4-1 overall, giving them eight more wins than their previous high total.
From there it was on to the playoffs, and an attempt at their first-ever playoff win, and potentially the first-ever playoff series win in school history against the Ennis Lions.
While they accomplished the first with a thrilling 4-3 win in game one, North could not take advantage of their several opportunities in the series and lost games two and three. The Falcons, who averaged over eight runs per game in district play, could muster only eight total runs in the threegame series. The Falcons committed eight errors over the three games and stranded 32 base runners.
Game one, played Thursday, May 6 at Irving High School, saw the Lions jump ahead of the Falcons with two runs in the top of the second inning.
The Falcons scratched back scoring one run in their half of the third inning to cut the Ennis lead to one. Right fielder JJ Humes blooped a single into center for a base hit to lead off the inning. Humes was picked off first base but was able to elude shortstop Jeremiah Sanchez’s tag at second base. Humes then stole third base and scored when catcher Luke Regas’ throw
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Following the run, North loaded the bases with two outs but were unable to tack on any additional runs.
Consecutive one-out doubles in the top of the third inning by Sanchez and Regas would help Ennis to a 3-1 lead. It would stay that way until, down to their last two outs in the bottom of the seventh, the Falcons rallied to tie the score.
Jaden Gonzalez singled to open the inning and moved to second on a one-out walk to Elian Gonzales. Jorge Herrera then lined a single to right field to load the bases before a balk by Mendez, who had replaced starting pitcher Colton Daniell in the third inning, brought one run home. With runners at second and third, Cole Lancaster pushed home the tying run with a sacrifice bunt sending the game into extra innings.
The score remained tied until the bottom of the ninth when Garrett Williams, pinch hitting for Gonzalez, drove Mendez’s first pitch to the base of the left field wall. When Cole Cather, 5-for-10 in the series, moved Williams to third with a sacrifice bunt the stage was set for Elian Gonzales. Gonzales worked the count to 3-1 before lining a pitch over second baseman Eric Stanley into right field to send the Falcons home with a 1-0 series lead.
Pitcher Preston Crow started for the Falcons and went seven innings, giving up just three runs on five hits, before giving way to Jayden Olsen. Olsen closed with two scoreless innings, allowing only 1 hit, and striking out three.
With a game in hand, the Falcons chose to start sidewinding pitcher Collin Arnold in game two on Friday night, rather than regular season Friday starter Cole Lancaster, and could not have been more pleased with the outing they got. Arnold needed only 59 pitches to get through seven innings and gave up only two runs. He struck out four and did not walk any Lions’ batters.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, who made three errors on defense for the second night in a row, Arnold’s effort would not be enough. In another tense matchup, it was the Lions who would walk it off in a 3-2, nine-inning win.
Game two was scoreless until the top of the fourth inning when Graham Danziger drove a single through the 5.5 hole to score Elian Gonzales, who had doubled to center field to lead off the inning, for the first Falcons’ run of the night.
Juan Cantua tripled to right field to open the fifth inning and, with one out, Jorge Herrera pushed a bunt to second baseman Eric Stanley. Stanley’s only play was to first base and the Falcons had a 2-0 lead.
That lead would be short lived as Ennis came back with two runs of their own, tying the score in the bottom half of the inning.
Ryan Diaz doubled to short left center field and came home on a single to left by Eric Stanley. Gonzales’ attempted back pick to first sailed high over first baseman Cole Cather allowing Stanley to move around to third base, and Nick Novy drove in the game-tying run with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
The Falcons had runners on first and second with two outs in the top of the eighth inning but were stymied when pinch hitter Jaden Gonzalez struck out to end the inning.
Ennis had a chance to score, ending the game, in their half of the inning. A single, an error and a walk loaded the bases with no outs against relief pitcher Nick Gray before Falcons’ Head Coach Tommy Sparks headed to the mound. Sparks summoned Garrett Williams in from left field, adding a fifth infielder to limit the potential for a base hit through the infield.
Gray was able to work out of the jam by striking out Sanchez and Lorenzo Leija, before getting Clayton Jenkins to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
After the Falcons went three up, three down in the top of the ninth, it took Ennis just three batters to end the game. With one out, Ryan Diaz was hit by a pitch. With Stanley at the plate, Diaz stole second and scored as Stanley smashed the next pitch past a diving Herrera at third base giving Ennis the win and tying the series at two.
As dramatic as the first two games were, game three, played Saturday afternoon, was much less so. Ennis, taking advantage of two more North Forney errors, jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings on their way to a series-clinching 5-2 victory.
Cole Lancaster got the start for the Falcons, going 4.1 innings giving up five runs on five hits, while striking out three and walking two. Only two of the runs charged to Lancaster were earned.
Ennis took an early 1-0 lead when Luke Regas drew a walk to start the second inning, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and came home on a double by designated hitter Aidan Castillo. The Lions extended their lead to 4-0 with three more runs in the top of the third.
With two outs and runners at first and second Regas smashed a ball up the middle. Lancaster saw the ball tip off his glove and into the hole that was vacated by Graham Danziger, who had broken toward the middle to field the ball. The base hit scored Jeremiah Mendez from second base.
Consecutive singles off the bat of Ryan Diaz and Eric Stanley drove in the third and fourth runs for the Lions. Ennis got a fifth run in the top of the fifth inning.
North Forney had runners on base in all seven innings but could not push any across until there were two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Down to their last out, North Forney saw Jorge Herrera single sharply to left field before Cole Cather, in his final at-bat as a Falcon, lifted Mendez’s first pitch high over the left field fence for a two-run home run.
For the nine seniors and one early graduate who played their last game in a North Forney uniform, it was a difficult way to end the season. However, their achievements set a high standard for the future. A season sweep of their rival. 29 wins overall and 13 in district. A district title. A playoff win.
This group can forevermore look back with pride on the many firsts they accomplished.
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