Kingwood Park Rallies Past PNG in 5A-D2 Regional Finals Thriller

It took nine innings and a late offensive explosion, but Kingwood Park punched its ticket to the state semifinals with an 8-4 win over Port Neches-Groves in the 5A Division II regional finals.

The Panthers and Indians were deadlocked 1-1 heading into the seventh when Taylor Green rolled a single just past a diving shortstop to score Landon Coburn and give Kingwood Park a 2-1 lead. PNG answered in the bottom of the seventh on a wild pitch that allowed Dylan Brown to score and knot the game at two.

Extra innings is where Kingwood Park took control. Green delivered again with a frozen rope to left field, plating Jon Pavlatos for the go-ahead run. Coburn then delivered the knockout blow, lacing a ball to center to bring in two more. The Panthers dropped a four-spot in the ninth and walked away with an 8-4 victory.

The win advances Kingwood Park to the UIL 5A Division II state semifinals, one of the final four teams standing in their classification.