MAY THE FORCE — AND THIS SCHEDULE — BE WITH YOU AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS WEEKEND IS A WEE BIT ON THE BUSY SIDE.

TODAY, WEDNESDAY: ESPN gives the Astros the national spotlight when Dallas
Keuchel (1-4, 4.00 ERA) takes the mound in the series finale against the
Yankees. Luis Severino (4-1, 2.61 ERA) gets the call for New York when the first
pitch is thrown shortly at 7:00pm. AT&T Sportsnet Southwest will start its coverage
at 6:30pm with the pregame show.
After winning the opener of the Western Conference semifinals, the Rockets will
look to put the Jazz into a deeper hole in game two of the series, which begins
at 7:00pm. TNT will have the national coverage for the contest.
TOMORROW, THURSDAY: Two area high school softball teams will be in action
in the Region III area round:
*District 23-5A champion Santa Fe faces Dayton in a one-game matchup at
Crosby High School starting at 7:30pm.
*Texas City seeks to keep its playoff hopes alive when the Stings open a bestof-
three series at Splendora starting at 6:00pm. Game two will be at Texas City
on Friday at 5:00pm while a coin flip will decide who is the home team for a third
game (if necessary) that will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the second
game.
High school baseball bi-district play starts as five area teams will begin their bid
to advance to the state finals in early June:
Clear Falls takes on Brazoswood in the opener of a best-of-three series beginning
at 7:30pm. The Knights will play host for the second game on Friday at
7:30pm with the third game (if necessary) is at Alvin beginning at 1:00pm on
Saturday.
*Friendswood faces off against Pearland in a best-of-three series that starts
in the Oilers’ backyard at 7:00pm. The Mustangs host game two on Friday at
7:00pm with the third game (if necessary) will be at Clear Brook on Saturday
starting at noon.
*Shadow Creek will be the site for each of the games between Clear Springs
and George Ranch. Each of the games — including the third game, if necessary
— will start at 6:00pm.
*Santa Fe opens its best-of-three series against Houston Furr at Delmar Field at
7:30pm. Game two swings to Santa Fe on Friday at 5:30pm while game three (if
necessary) will be at Santa Fe on Saturday at 12:00pm.
*As of press time, the schedule for the Galveston Ball-Houston Waltrip series
had not been announced.
FRIDAY: Clear Falls clashes with Dobie in a Region III area round softball matchup
starting at 7:00pm at Clear Lake High School.
Gerrit Cole and his American League-best 61 strikeouts will get to add to his total
when the Astros open a three-game set at the National League West-leading
Diamondbacks beginning at 8:40pm. Cole (2-1, 1.73 ERA) is slated to face off
against Robbie Ray (2-0, 4.88 ERA) but the Arizona hurler sustained an injury
that forced him to leave his start at the Nationals on Sunday after just 1.1 innings.
AT&T Sportsnet Southwest will start its coverage with the pregame show
at 8:00pm.
The Western Conference semfinals swing into Utah as the Rockets and Jazz
meet for game three. ESPN will have the game live beginning at 9:30pm.
SATURDAY: The road to the Texas 7on7 State Tournament makes a stop in
Texas City as the Stingarees host a qualifying event. A majority of the area’s
teams will be in attendance when the tourney kicks off at Stingaree Stadium beginning
at 9:00am. The top two finishers in the Division I and Division II brackets
will automatically qualify for the state tourney in College Station, which will be
held from June 28-30.
Charlie Morton, who took the mound against the Yankees on Monday, will get
his second start of the week when the Astros visit the Diamondbacks in the second
game of the weekend series. Morton (3-0, 1.86 ERA) will be countered by
Arizona’s Zack Greinke (2-2, 4.80 ERA), who has struggled with keeping the ball
in the park thus far. AT&T Sportsnet Southwest will start its coverage at 6:30pm,
leading into the 7:10pm start time.