By Michael Sudhalter

Special to The News

CROSBY — The Port Neches-Groves baseball team put itself in position to win Thursday’s UIL Class 5A bi-district opener.

Despite a 2-1 loss to 22-5A runner-up Friendswood, Indians head coach Scott Carter isn’t ready to hit the panic button with PNG only a game away from elimination in the best-of-three series.

“We outhit them (6 to 3), and it wasn’t like Friendswood beat the ball all over the park,” Carter said. “The kids played well, and it was a good ballgame between two evenly matched teams.”

The series resumes at 5 p.m. Friday in Crosby with Game 2. Carter said he will start Grant Rogers on the mound. If the Indians win, Game 3 will immediately follow.

Nederland’s Game 2 against Galveston Ball will resume at 4 p.m. Friday in Galveston, with Game 3 to immediately follow if Nederland wins.

If Carter is optimistic about Game 2, it could be because PNG has a history of bouncing back. During its 2017 Class 5A state championship season, the Indians lost Game 1s to both Barbers Hill and Tomball, only to emerge victorious.

On Thursday, the Indians (16-13-1) struggled with Mustangs ace Bradley Wilcott, who allowed just one run through 6 1/3 innings for the Mustangs (16-9).

“We just swung at some bad pitches,” Carter said.

But PNG put a scare into Wilcott and the Mustangs in the top of the seventh inning.

After striking out Keaton Richard, Wilcott walked Cade Billeaud, Carson Roccaforte and Dean Guidry in succession to load the bases.

Mustangs head coach Cory Benavides decided to bring in relief pitcher Max Mims, who struck out Ryan Sosa and Khristian Curtis to close out the game.

Friendswood’s Devon Andrews scored both of the Mustangs’ runs. He homered to left field in the first inning off Curtis, who allowed two runs in four innings. Curtis was relieved by Austin Schaper, who threw two shutout innings.

In the third inning, the Mustangs loaded the bases, but they scored only one run — when Andrews came home on a wild pitch.

PNG scored its lone run when Schaper drove home Blake Bost with an RBI single. The Indians built some momentum there, but Bost was called out after leading at first base, followed by a Reece Mancera strikeout.

PNG also left two runners on base in the second inning. In the fifth, Guidry hit a two-out single, and Sosa hit a hard line drive, only to be denied by a clutch catch by Friendswood’s first baseman.

**UPDATES schedule in series**