Fort Bend Austin senior catcher Matt Hills found the best way to not only cap off Senior Day, but give his team added excitement heading into the postseason.

Hills’ walk-off grand slam capped off a nine-run seventh inning as the Bulldogs pulled off a 13-9 win over Clements Saturday afternoon and clinched a piece of the District 23-5A championship. Austin, who will make the playoffs for the first time in over a decade, will now face a mini-tournament with Dulles, Kempner and Travis on Monday and Tuesday to decide the district seedings for the upcoming playoffs.

Hills blasted a 1-and-1 pitch off Rangers reliever Andrew Bjorngjeld to left field to win the game after Austin got its first five batters to reach base, including a single by Hills that led off the inning.

“I can’t lie. I was nervous (heading up to bat),” Hills said, who was 2-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored. “I’d been waiting to come through for a while. I’ve been struggling a bit, and to come up and I was just happy to come through in that way.”

Conversely, the game was the end of a heartbreaking weekend for Clements. The Rangers entered the weekend needing two wins to jump into the playoff mix. But despite having a 6-0 lead after the first two innings, Clements (15-9, 10-7) gave up two runs in Kempner’s final few at-bats and lost 7-6, eliminating itself from playoff contention.

But the Rangers played with pride less than 24 hours later, scoring six runs in the fourth inning by getting five straight hits off starter A.J. Glasshof to take an 8-2 lead. Infielder John Murphy had a two-RBI single and starting pitcher J.J. Correro had a two-RBI double in the inning.

Austin got a boost in the fifth inning when shortstop Barrett Barnes homered to left-center field for a two-run shot after outfielder Tony Gigliotti singled to cut the lead to 8-4.

After Clements got a run back in the top of the seventh inning, Correro was looking to close out the game. But hits by Hills and  first baseman Luke Mulcahey chased out Correro and put Brian Hethcoat on the mound. Heathcoat then got Gigliotti and outfielder Daniel Rockett on base by hit by pitches and Hills scored on a wild pitch. That closed the book on Hethcoat and brought on Bjorngjeld, who struck out second baseman Ryan Daulton, but gave up a two-RBI double by Barnes and a two-RBI single by outfielder Blake Doerr to tie the game.

After a double by first baseman Drew Miller and an intentional walk to designated hitter Erik Schweiger, Hills came up for the second time in the inning and hit a blast to send the home fans into a frenzy and put an exclamation point on the regular season.

“It’s kind of the way we started and the way we finished,” Austin coach Randy Ursery said. “The kids know they can hit the ball, they believe in themselves and never give up. They’re going to play hard until we get three outs.”

Austin (20-7-1, 13-4) will face Dulles at 7 p.m. Monday at Elkins, while Kempner and Travis will play at the same time at Hightower. The winners of those two games will then face each other at 7 p.m. Tuesday for the No. 1 seed in the district, while the two losers will play for the No. 3 seed at the same time.

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Chad Washington can be reached at (281) 404-4953 or cwashington@athletesconnection.com.

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