By Dr David Davis
For the second straight season, the Pearland Oilers fulfilled their commitment to compete for a Class 6A state baseball championship. And for the second time, the Pearland diamondmen came up short as the Tomball Cougars came away with a 4-1 win for the state crown.
As they did last year, the Oilers won the state semifinal match against the defending state champion Flower Mound 2-1. That avenged a 6-4 defeat to the Jaguars in the state finals last season.
As he has done throughout the playoffs, junior All-Stater Nico Partida left his shortstop position and put the team on his back in the 6A state semifinals.
In the game that saw nationally ranked Flower Mound’s title defense end, Partida didn’t let that happen to the 2024 Oilers, who beat his team in last year’s state final.
Partida, an Arizona State pledge, gave up four hits and one run through seven innings on the mound. He struck out three batters on Flower Mound’s star-studded batting lineup.
“Nico has never lost a high school start. I think he’s 16-0 now,” Flower Mound head coach Danny Wallace said. “We didn’t strike out much at all, but we just couldn’t get the big hit.”
Flower Mound (40-6) pitcher Zack James also spent seven innings on the mound. He struck out six batters and allowed seven hits, but two surrendered runs early in the game gave Pearland the edge.
Brady Brewer hit an RBI single to give Pearland a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. John Moya singled at the top of the third inning, driving in Walker Hurst and increasing Pearland’s lead to 2-0.
Flower Mound (40-4) only saw a spark when Texas A&M pledge Adrian Rodriguez hit his double down the line in the bottom of the sixth inning, but three quick Flower Mound outs in the bottom of the seventh secured Pearland’s spot in the 6A state championship game for a second consecutive year.
“People keep saying that we made it back,” Pearland head coach David Rogers said. “But we made it back with a different set of guys. I don’t want anybody to take away what this group has done. It’s not the same team as last year. If anything, it just shows you how hard they worked to get back to this same spot.”
Pearland will meet Tomball (40-3) in the 6A state final at 4 p.m. Saturday at Dell Diamond. Tomball beat San Antonio Johnson 2-0 to take the other final slot.
This year marked the first time since 2017 that a Dallas-area team has not won a 6A state baseball title and the first time since then that a Dallas-area 6A team has not appeared in the 6A state final.
The win by Pearland and Tomball set up a Houston-area state final.
Tomball 4 – Pearland 1
Pearland (36-9) falls short of state gold for the second straight season after a 6-4 loss at this stage a year ago against Lewisville Flower Mound. Pearland beat the Jaguars in a rematch Friday in the semifinals 2-1.
When the baseball season began this year, head coach David Rogers and his Pearland diamondmen circled June 8 on their calendars to return to the 2024 state baseball tournament with another shot at winning the Class 6A state title.
It was a scoreless game for the first three innings as Pearland’s Jaden Barfield and Tomball’s Karson Reeder were locked in a pitcher’s duel.
However, in the top of the fourth frame, Tomball sent 10 batters to the plate, busting things open as the Cougars sent four runners across the pay station for a 4-0 advantage.
That was all Reeder needed as he took off the rest of the way en route to a complete-game three-hitter. He set down 14 straight at one point until a Pearland single in the sixth.
Pearland’s Barfield, a state championship game starter for the second straight year, made it through three innings unscathed with four strikeouts and three runs via free passes.
After allowing his first hit of the day to Coleman Ryan, the Pearland senior lefty was within a strike of getting out of the top of the fourth when the wheels fell off.
Reeder, a sophomore who came in at 12-1 with a 0.89 ERA, gave up a leadoff single to Pearland junior Nico Partida. After a strikeout to the next batter, Reeder induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
From there, he looked effortless as he held Pearland in check until a late RBI single by Cade Adams with two outs in the seventh, making the final score 4-1.
Tomball went a perfect 12-0 in the playoffs with just 15 runs allowed.
After winning a state title in 1980, Pearland has come up empty in its next six trips. This was the Oilers’ fourth trip since 2009.
Despite the loss, much credit has to go to coach Rogers and his coaching staff for the great season once again. The players gave it their best and once again finished as one of the top two Class 6A teams in the state. Despite the loss, the Oilers are considered one of the elite baseball programs in the state.
