McKinney 3
Coppell 1
The pitching of Austin Creps and Kenn Kasparek propelled McKinney to a 3-1 victory over Coppell on Tuesday, dethroning the defending champions in the Tris Speaker Division Series in two games and sending the Marshals to the Texas Collegiate League Championship series. The game was played in front of over 650 fans at McKinney’s Gabe Nesbitt Field.
McKinney will face Denton, which finished a two-game sweep of Weatherford with a 4-1 triumph in the Rogers Hornsby Division Series, in a best-of-three championship series, beginning Friday at Gabe Nesbitt Field in McKinney. Game Two will be played on Saturday at the Ballpark on Bonnie Brae in Denton, and a Game Three if necessary will take place in McKinney on Sunday.
The Marshals also avenged a sweep at the hands of the Copperheads in the opening round of last season�s playoffs.
Creps, the league�s July pitcher of the month, continued his hot streak. The right-hander from Texas A&M allowed one run on five hits and struck out three in 6 2/3 innings. Kasparek, a key contributor on Texas� national championship team, allowed one hit and struck out three in the final 2 1/3 innings to notch the save. Creps and Kasparek combined with Monday�s duo of Hunter Moody and Bryce Cox to limit Coppell to a .190 average in the two games.
The Marshals took the lead in the third. Blake Hurlbutt singled with two outs, stole second and scored on Matt Cavagnaro�s base hit. Cavagnaro was 5-for-8 in the two games.
McKinney extended its lead in the fourth on C.J. Ebarb�s run-scoring single. Ebarb added a sacrifice fly, scoring Louie Alamia, in the sixth. All three runs were charged to losing pitcher Aaron Brown.
Coppell got its only run in the seventh when Anthony Jackson (3-for-3) singled with two outs, scoring Adam Moore.
All tickets for Friday’s game in McKinney are priced at just $1.00 each and can be purchased by calling the Marshals at 972-747-9374
Denton 4
McKinney 1
The Outlaws advanced to the TCL Championship Series in their first season with the victory at Roger Williams Ballpark in Weatherford on Tuesday night.
Denton scored single runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to snap a 1-1 tie. Kris Jenkins and Kyle Jones each had 2 hits for the Outlaws.
The combination of starter Corey Kluber (4.2, 5 h, 1 r-er) and Kurt Pessa (4.1 ip, 2 h, 0 r) blanked the Wranglers ober the final seven innings with Pessa earning the victory. Weatherford had just 9 hits and 3 runs in the 2 games of the Hornsby Division Series.
Weatherford starter Shea Hancock allowed just one hit and a 1st inning run in his 5.2 inning stint. Hart Hering took the loss in relief, issuing 2 hits and 2 runs (1 unearned) in 1.2 innings. Three Wrangler errors contributed to the defeat. Brendan
Rubenstein had a pair of hits for Weatherford.
Tickets for Saturday’s game in Dentoin can be purchased for $4.00 in advance of the game by calling the Outlaws at 940-465-0845.