Westside evens baseball playoff series with rival Lamar

Westside finally got one to go its way.

After playing Lamar close but coming up short in their first three meetings, the Wolves pulled one out when they had to, scoring in the bottom of the seventh inning to win 3-2 on Friday night at Butler Field.

The Wolves’ win in Game 2 tied the Class 5A Region III quarterfinal series between the two District 20-5A rivals at one game apiece and forced a decisive Game 3 at 7:30 p.m. today at Butler.

“The monkey that’s off our back is unbelievable,” Westside coach Abe Arguello said. “These kids have battled through adversity.”

They’re not done battling, either, thanks to Miguel Figueroa’s walk-off, RBI double after the Redskins tied the score 2-2 in the top of the seventh inning — and appeared ready to dish out more heartache.

Lamar starting pitcher John Williamson supplied the game-tying RBI with a double to left. He was solid on the mound, too, holding Westside to five hits and one earned run on a passed ball.

Williamson (8-1) finished with seven strikeouts on 114 pitches, but he issued four walks — none costlier than the one to Michael Resnick to start the seventh.

Resnick was running with Figueroa at the plate with two strikes and two outs — a move that gave Westside new life.

“I wanted to make sure that we got a fastball to run on, and we did, (and) he hit it well,” Arguello said. “You cannot say enough about the heart and soul of Michael Resnick. He’s a winner, he’s a leader, that’s why he’s going to TCU, and as a coach it’s a pleasure and a blessing to have him on my team.”

Blake Zieren (6-2) went the distance for Westside (26-11-1), allowing eight hits with five strikeouts on 106 pitches. Conner VanDaveer, who is battling a foot injury, was 2-for-3 with a run-scoring double in a gutsy performance.

“(VanDaveer’s) foot is 50 percent,” Arguello said. “He can barely walk. He goes out there, gets an RBI, a double, he’s doing all these things.

“The seniors talked about leaving legacies behind. They’re not ready for their legacy to end.”

Ryan Farney (2-for-4, run scored) and Connor Knapp (2-for-3) led the Redskins, but they wasted too many opportunities, leaving the bases loaded in the first and stranding 10 runners for the game.

Chris Lanham is expected to start today for Lamar (32-5-1).

“It was a good high school ballgame,” Lamar coach Mike McGilvray said. “Early on, we didn’t make some plays that we should have made defensively, and that hurt us.”