Dallas Baptist commit Park Prater allowed seven hits and struck out six in five innings of action as Argyle beat Cooper 6-2 in Game 2 of the Class 5A Region 1 final on Friday. The decisive Game 3 is 1 pm Saturday at Abilene Christian.
The winner advances to next week’s UIL state baseball tournament at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.
Argyle improves to 33-10-2 this season.
Cooper beat Argyle by the same score 6-2 in Game 1 on Thursday.
This is Argyle’s fourth playoff series that will go three games. Argyle also went three games against Midlothian, Arlington Heights and Burleson – its first three rounds.
It was Prater’s first time pitching in three weeks (injury). He gave up four hits in the first inning and then settled down with three hits in the final four frames. Conor Lillis came in relief and retired all six batters he faced.
The Eagles were sparked by five runs in the fourth inning.
Cooper scored its only two runs in the first inning, but Argyle got one back with an error in the bottom of the frame. The Eagles scored five times in the fourth on four hits, a second Cooper error, a walk and a balk.
If Argyle wins Saturday, the Eagles will clinch a state berth for the sixth time in program history and fourth time in six years. But it will be their first in 5A. Argyle won 4A titles in 2015, 2018 and 2019.
