Timber Creek Survives Lake Ridge Comeback in Bi-District Game 3 Thriller, 8-7

A six-run lead nearly wasn't enough. Timber Creek survived a five-run Lake Ridge rally to win the decisive Game 3 of their bi-district series Saturday afternoon in Coppell, 8-7, advancing to the area round of the playoffs.

The Falcons looked in control early. Pitcher Addi Inocencio helped her own cause in the second inning, taking a pitch deep to left for a two-run home run that pushed Timber Creek to a 2-0 lead. The Falcons kept the inning alive — Ava Thomas followed with a rocket to the base of the left-field wall that scored two more, capping a five-run second and putting Timber Creek ahead 6-0.

Lake Ridge answered in the third. The Eagles scored five of their own, with Abigail Milligan delivering a key single up the middle that plated two. A third runner attempted to score on the play but was thrown out — a moment that would loom large as the deficit shrank to 6-5 after three innings.

Timber Creek pushed the lead back to three in the top of the fifth when Brooklyn Wardell singled home Addy McFarland, but Lake Ridge kept pressing. The Eagles pulled within one at 8-7, and with two outs and a runner on third in the final inning, the game hung in the balance. Inocencio closed it out with a strikeout, finishing what she started and sending the Falcons to the area round.