It was only fitting that these two HISD rivals each get two fantastic finishes in the playoffs, but only one will move on.

Friday night at Butler Stadium, Jarrett Higgins hit a walk-off RBI double to give Bellaire a 1-0 win in the third and decisive game against rival Lamar to advance to the Region III-5A semifinals next weekend. The Cardinals recovered from a tough loss to the Redskins earlier in the day that tied the series at one game.

With two out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Higgens took an offering from Lamar pitcher Peter Goudeau and laced it into the right-center field gap, allowing runner Sean Washington to score all the way from first base to seal the win.

“It’s all to them. We won as a team,” Higgins said as he celebrated with his teammates. “There’s no individuals here.”

Lamar (27-6) had a chance to go ahead in the top of the inning when outfielder Marquis Kindle doubled with one out, and designated hitter Scott Erzinger came up and hit a towering fly ball that was inches away from being a two-run homer. But the wind kept the ball in the park, and was caught by right fielder Wesley Mercurio. Kindle went to third on the play, but Mercurio’s throw went to second, and the umpire called Kindle out because he left the base early.

“It was one of those series that you hate to see any team lose,” Bellaire coach Rocky Manuel said. “This was a matchup (that) could have been one of those series where the winner could be going to Austin.”

The game was mostly a duel between Goudeau and Bellaire hurler Jeffrey Rohrbach, as both pitchers were dominant for most of the game. Rohrbach got a complete game victory by giving up only four hits and one walk. Goudeau was the tough-luck loser after giving up three hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

The Redskins forced a third game by pulling out a 5-4 win, as Bellaire’s errors allowed Lamar to hang on for one more game. With men on first and second and two out in the bottom of the seventh, first baseman Matt Killary hit a slow bouncer to shortstop Alex Silver, who rushed a throw to first base that squirted away from first baseman Trace Knoblauch and went into the dugout, allowing Lamar courtesy runner Neal Dennison to score the winning run.

Lamar got a run home in the fourth inning when Killary got a bases loaded single to bring home second baseman Kevin McKee. But Bellaire reliever Kyle Chaskin struck out the next two batters and a weak grounder to third baseman Will McCaleb allowed him to tag out a runner to get out of the inning.

Bellaire responded with two home runs in the next frame, as Higgins hit a long blast to center to tie the game, then McCaleb hit a laser to deep right two batters later to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.

The Redskins responded three runs in the bottom of the fifth, as Daniel Gonzales scored on a wild pitch and Killary got a two-run hit to give Lamar a 4-2 lead.

The Cards retied the game in the sixth on a solo homer by pinch hitter Brian Baumgarten and catcher Jeremy Schaffer scored on a fielder’s choice.

Bellaire (33-6) next face either Alvin or Brazoswood in the regional semifinals next weekend.

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