Senior
Jonah Timmons laced a two-out, three-run double to right center field in the bottom of the fifth, turning a 2-0 deficit into a one-run lead during Jesuit's eventual 4-2 win over Plano East on Thursday at Wright Field. The Rangers would finish the first day of the 2023 Collin County Invitational with a 1-0-1 record, as the Blue and Gold tied Plano East, 7-7 in an impromptu double header after Thursday's 4 p.m. game against Midlothian Heritage was canceled due to the impending weather threat in DFW.
Timmons' hit was one of four for the Rangers in the opener as senior
Weston Okamoto recorded a triple and additional base hits were recorded by senior
Nick Barber and senior
Dominic Migliore. Junior
Joe Allen struck out four batters over four innings of work before senior
Will Greenwood took over in the fifth, hurling two innings with five strikeouts to pick up the win.Â
Freshman Taylor Haddock made an immediate splash in his varsity debut, launching a solo home run down the left field line to tie the nightcap in the second inning. Haddock and junior
Cameron Davis finished the game with two RBI apiece to pace the Rangers while Barber, Migliore, Haddock and sophomore
Jake Fults secured two hits apiece. Jesuit held a 4-1 lead after the second as junior
Tristen Bird followed Haddock's blast with a single that plated Okamoto before back-to-back singles by Barber and Fults spotted the Rangers two additional runs.
On the mound, junior
Jaxx Rigelsky threw 4.1 innings and struck out two before senior Preton Payne took over, allowing no runs on two hits over 1.2 innings. Migliore made a sensational play to end the top of the sixth, making a diving catch off of a line drive by Plano East designated hitter Connor Cox before throwing advancing runner Dasan Harris out at third, with a great tag placed by junior
Jake Jorgensen to end the inning.
Plano East made a great play of its own in the bottom of the sixth, as Migliore hit a two-out single up the middle that seemed to end the game as Timmons raced home, but Harris, the Panther center fielder, threw a strke to catcher Carson Weber to end the game.
Jesuit will return to action at 11 a.m. on Friday, Mar. 3, when the Rangers will welcome Byron Nelson to Wright Field. The Rangers will conclude Friday's competition at 6:30 p.m. against Lovejoy before battling Sachse (10 a.m.) and Celina (5:30 p.m.) on Saturday.
