CARLSBAD, N.M. Seth Higdon pitched a two-hit shutout and Caden Bedrick drove in the game’s only run Friday as Permian defeated El Paso Socorro 1-0 in the opener of their Class 6A bi-district baseball playoff series.
Game 2 is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday at Carlsbad High School with Game 3, if necessary, to follow. Permian (24-12) won its first playoff game since at least 2007. The Panthers were swept in the bi-district round in their last three postseason appearances.
Higdon (4-5) struck out seven and walked two. He worked out of trouble in the sixth, when a hit batter, a bunt single and a sacrifice bunt gave the Bulldogs runners at second and third with one out. Higdon got Jose Enriquez to ground out to first and Permian first baseman Noey Brito threw out Dorian Mendoza at the plate to complete the double play. Socorro got a runner to second with one out in the seventh inning, but Higdon retired the next two batters to end it.
Permian’s run came in the fourth, when Christian Tschauner and Tanner Adams walked and moved up on a passed ball. Bedrick then hit a sacrifice fly to right.
Permian’s only hit was a leadoff single by Taylor Sullivan in the fifth.
Enriquez went the distance on the mound for Socorro, striking out eight and walking four.
CLASS 6A BI-DISTRICT PLAYOFF
At Carlsbad, N.M.
GAME 1
Socorro……… 000 000 0 — 0 2 0
Permian……… 000 100 x — 1 1 1
Jose Enriquez and Jonathon Rios. Seth Higdon and Taylor Sullivan. W — Higdon (4-5). L — Enriquez.
Records — El Paso Socorro 25-9, Permian 24-12.
