Facing the defending state champions, their district rivals and one of the top teams in the state in the Brenham Cubs, and with a shot at the state tournament on the line, the Magnolia Bulldogs put up a valiant effort before finally falling in the finale of the series.

The Bulldogs and the Cubs, both rivals in district 17-4A, squared off recently in the Region III finals at Mumford High School with the winner moving on to Austin to compete in the state tournament.

The Bulldogs rolled through the region, winning each best-of-three series without losing a single game. Magnolia defeated Kingwood Park in the opening bi-district round (15-4, 11-1), Nederland in the area round (5-3, 9-4), Montgomery in the regional quarterfinals (6-5, 9-3), and Friendswood in the regional semi-finals (7-6, 7-1).

Brenham, the 17-4A champions having gone undefeated in district play, experienced a more perilous survival through Region III, going the full three games in two series.

The Cubs defeated Huntsville (7-2) in the bi-district round, Port Neches Grove at area (5-7, 7-6, 7-0), Willis in the regional quarterfinals (8-1, 5-4) and Santa Fe in the regional semi-finals (14-5, 0-1, 18-7).

In the first game of the series against the Bulldogs, the Cubs asserted their offensive dominance, winning 10-2. Game two the following day saw the Bulldogs edge Brenham 3-2 to draw the series to a 1-1 tie.

With a trip to Austin on the line in game three, the Cubs showed why they are the defending state champions and one of the best teams each year in the state, easily handling the Bulldogs, 10-0.

The Bulldogs finished their remarkable season with a 25-16-1 overall record.

Brenham’s run at a second straight state title came up short last week when they fell to Wichita Falls Rider, 3-1, in the state semi-finals.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed