Ira survives regional quarterfinal series with Baird

The No. 2 Ira Bulldogs did it the hard way.
Baird forced a third-and-deciding game in the Region 1-1A quarterfinal baseball series on Saturday with an 8-7 win in Abilene. In Game 3,  Ira had to score three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and head coach Toby Goodwin had to use three different pitchers to seal a 9-8 win to advance to the regional semifinals.
Ira (15-5-1) will take on Borden County at 7 p.m. Friday in Hermleigh in the Region 1-1A semifinal game. 
The Coyotes defeated Hamlin, 2-1, in a best-of-three series in Hermleigh. Borden County lost the first game 8-6 before rebounding to win the next two games, 14-13 and 14-10. The semifinal winner will take on either Kress or New Home in the regional finals the week of May 27.
Ira 9, Baird 8
Trailing 8-6 going into the sixth inning, Ira took the lead when Ike Weaver scored on a Karson Valentine sacrifice fly and two-run double by Matthew Brazil.
In the top of the seventh, starter Nathan Goodwin could only pitch to one batter after reaching his pitch limit. He struck out Kollin Davis for the first out and Valentine came in and forced Clay Collins to ground out. Then Toby Goodwin turned to Anthony Coy, who struck out Drew West to end the game.
“In all of my years of coaching, I have never seen anything like this,” Goodwin said of the final three outs. “It was a huge win.”
Baird took the lead in the first inning by scoring three runs, but the Bulldogs tied the game in the bottom of the inning.
Goodwin led off with a walk and Coy was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corner. Goodwin later scored on a passed ball and Valentine’s RBI single cut the deficit to 3-2. Valentine moved to second on a wild pitch and later took third on a passed ball. He scored the tying run on Matthew Brazil’s groundout.
Ira took a 6-3 lead in the second inning, highlighted by Coy’s two-run triple. Coy scored the third run of the inning on a passed ball.
The Bears cut Ira’s lead to 6-4 after three innings and took the lead with three runs in the fifth. Baird increased the lead to 8-6 in the top of the sixth.
Ira hitters: Karson Valentine 2 singles, 2 RBIs; Drew Porter 2 singles; Anthony Coy 1 triple, 2 RBIs; Matthew Brazil 1 double, 3 RBIs; Nathan Goodwin 1 single; Holden Rios 1 stolen base.
Ira pitchers: Nathan Goodwin 6.1 innings, 8 runs, 7 earned runs, 10 hits, 6 strikeouts, 4 walks; Karson Valentine 0.1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits; Anthony Coy 0.1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 strikeout.
Baird 8, Ira 7
The Bears held off a late Ira rally to extend the playoff series to the third game.
Trailing 2-0 in the first inning, the Bulldogs tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Coy scored on Drew Porter’s ground out and Valentine scored on an error.
Ira took a 3-2 lead in the second inning on Goodwin’s RBI single, but Baird regained the lead, 6-3, with four runs in the fourth inning.
Brazil hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit to 6-4, but the Bears added one run in the fifth inning. In the bottom of the inning, Coy hit a sacrifice fly to score White, but Baird again responded by scoring one run in the sixth.
With the Bears leading 8-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Holden Rios reached on an error allowing Cody McCowen, who was pinch running for Porter, to score. Rios scored on Brayden White’s double to cut the deficit to 8-7.
Goodwin led off the seventh inning with a single, but was forced out on a fielder’s choice. With Coy at first base, Valentine singled to put the potential winning run on base.  Brazil lined out to Jax Bellar who then threw the ball to first base to complete the double play to end the game.
Ira hitters: Brayden White 2 singles, 1 double, 1 RBI; Nathan Goodwin 3 singles, 1 RBI; Karson Valentine 3 singles; Anthony Coy 2 singles, 1 RBI; Matthew Brazil 1 single; Garrett Hafer 1 single; Holden Rios 1 single; Ike Weaver 1 single; Drew Porter 1 RBI.
Ira pitcher: Anthony Coy 7 innings, 8 runs, 2 earned runs, 11 hits, 8 strikeouts, 2 walks.