Harleton had edged Alba-Golden in game one of their Area playoff series by a score of 5-4. 

Going into the fourth inning of Alba-Golden’s second game with the Harleton Wildcats, it was a toss-up. Harleton held a 3-2 edge in a balanced game. The Wildcats then exploded for 9 runs in the fourth and went on to qualify for the regional quarterfinals by defeating Alba-Golden in game two, 14-2, Saturday in Spring Hill.

There was no Alba-Golden collapse in that fourth inning. Rather, there was a lack of concentration. Harleton bunted home two runs, each with an associated fielding error. They beat out two infield base hits and punched two base hits through the infield. Add in a single wild pitch, one free pass and one extra-base hit and it results in a big rally. 

Errors were indeed costly to the Panthers. An infield error in the second and an outfield error in the third gifted two runs to Harleton early. 

It was the big fourth inning which cured the concrete on the area playoff. Harleton added two runs in the fifth on a bases-loaded double, and the game was called after five innings on the run rule.

Harleton won the game at the plate. They tallied 16 base hits against the Alba-Golden pitching duo of Mason Smith and Tucker Samples. The Wildcats simply put more baseballs in play, and as can happen, many of them found the gaps in the defense. 

Alba-Golden had moments when they had shown their mettle. In the first, Samples made a great back-handed stab of a tough try at first for an out. Also in the first, Easton Campbell threw out a Wildcat trying to steal second. The throw was spot-on.

The Panthers took the lead in the first. Campbell lined to right-center with two outs. Two walks loaded the bases, and Brett Sutton scored on a passed ball. 

Harleton tied the game in the second and took a 2-run lead in the third. Campbell led off the bottom of the third with a double to right. He scored two batters later when Luke Jones sent a base hit back up the middle. 

Going into the fourth inning, the game was one of give and take. After the Wildcats batted around in the fourth, the outcome appeared pre-determined. 

The big Harleton fourth inning took the air out of the Panthers, and with those two additional runs in the fifth, the game was all but decided. 

East Texas baseball is competitive. The loss in an area round playoff should not detract from an Alba-Golden baseball season which claimed a second consecutive district championship.