Baseball: Carter Perkins Leads Montgomery Over Magnolia In Game 1

MAGNOLIA, TX — Whenever senior Carter Perkins stepped into the batter’s box Thursday, good things happened for Montgomery.

The third baseman notched the go-ahead hit three times, including a three-run home run in the fourth inning and an RBI triple in the sixth, to power the Bears to a 7-6 win over District 19-5A champion Magnolia in the opener of a three-game Class 5A bi-district baseball series at Bulldog Field.

“He’s a steady player,” Montgomery head coach Chris Morris said. “He got that triple and got to me at third, and I said, ‘Man, have a night.’ And he did. He had a great night. I’m very proud of that kid.”

Perkins, who reached base in all four plate appearances and knocked in five of the Bears’ seven runs, opened the game with a run-scoring single to left off Magnolia starting pitcher and University of Houston recruit Cameron Nickens to give Montgomery a 1-0 lead in the first.

With the Bears trailing 3-2 in the fourth, Perkins came up big again, lifting another pitch from Nickens over the left-field fence for a three-run home run and a 5-3 lead. When Perkins came up to bat in the sixth with the game tied at 5, he laced a line drive into the right-center gap to score the runner from first. He then came home to make it 7-5 on Tristan Peterson’s single, which proved crucial as Magnolia’s TJ Peters smacked a solo home run to left in the bottom of the seventh.

“I was just hunting fastball the whole time, trying to put something in the gap and score some runs,” Perkins said of his triple. “I just poked one out there.”

The Bears (15-12-2) notched nine hits and drew nine walks against Nickens and Peters. Montgomery’s seven runs are the most the Bulldogs (21-10) have given up since they suffered a 10-7 loss to Bryan Rudder on March 26.

“That’s a good ballclub over there. They’re going to show up tomorrow and be ready to play,” Morris said. “I thought we swung the bat as good as we swung it in a long time.

“It’s a big confidence boost. ... They got some big hits.”

After a Mason Kolar sacrifice fly brought Magnolia to within 2-1 in the second inning, the Bulldogs grabbed the lead in the third. Mitch Hall scored on a wild pitch to tie the game, and Tyler Middleton scored on a fielder’s choice ground ball from Blake Casey to make it 3-2.

Reliever KJ Danes kept it from being worse for the Bears. Danes took over for starting pitcher Chase Davis with the bases loaded and two outs in a 2-2 game. Danes got a strikeout and a fly out on either side of the fielder’s choice from Casey to escape the jam with minimal damage.

Danes got out of another jam in the sixth as he allowed three two-out singles to load the bases before inducing a fly out to right to preserve the Bears’ 7-5 lead. Danes tossed the final five innings to earn the win, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks.

The victory moves Montgomery within one game of advancing to the area round in its first playoff appearance since 2018.

“It’s super exciting. It’s so hard to explain it. You’re just right there,” Perkins said.

Magnolia will look to keep its season alive in Game 2, which will be played at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Montgomery. If the Bulldogs win Friday, the series shifts back to Magnolia on Saturday.

“We’ve got to come out and throw strikes. We gave up too many walks, and they came up with some big hits,” Magnolia head coach Taylor Shiflett said. “They refuse to lose. We’ve just got to keep playing and grinding it out.”