ODESSA, Texas – The Americas and Colleyville Heritage high school baseball teams went toe-to-toe for the right to advance to the regional final in Class 5A, Division 1.
Panthers had the final answer Friday afternoon at Odessa High School, edging out an 8-7 win in Game 3 of a best-of-three series that delivered nearly five hours of emotional swings in a doubleheader.
After Colleyville Heritage won the first game of the series on Thursday, 10-2, both games on Friday were decided by one run each.
The deciding third game
Americas rallies for win in Game 2
Game 2 saw the game decided in a frantic seventh inning. The Panthers scored three runs in the top of the seventh to go up 4-1 only to see Americas score four runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out the win, 5-4.
Americas catcher Emi Candela singled in two runs with the bases loaded to tie the game at 4-4, and on the same play, Panthers right fielder Michael Raab overran the ball, allowing the game-winning run to score.
The Panthers scored a run in the fourth to lead 1-0, but the Trailblazers answered in the sixth with an RBI triple by Arrieta.
What Americas baseball coach Jesse Munoz said
“I’m proud of this team,” Munoz said. “We fought with everything we had and kept coming back to stay alive. We did some great things in the second and third games.”
What Americas baseball players LJ McDonald and Drew Gonzalez said
“We showed that we have a great connection on this team, we never gave up, we fought hard,” said Gonzalez, who was tremendous at third with several big defensive plays. “Our team did a lot of good things.”
Added McDonald: “We tried our very best. I love these guys, it didn’t work out the effort was amazing.”
What’s next
Americas finished the season with 30 wins and look forward to what should be a solid 2026 season. Colleyville Heritage advances to the regional finals to play either Aledo or Amarillo High, May 22-24.
Clint, Riverside eliminated in Class 4A, Division 2 playoffs
Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on X
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso Americas HS baseball team loses heartbreaker in 2025 UIL playoffs
Reporting by Felix F. Chavez, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
