TYLER — Forney's Vance Woodruff opened the series with a three-run bomb in the top of the first inning of Game 1 at Dragon Field.
He did what Nacogdoches failed to do Friday night in Game 2 in Forney — close the series.
Woodruff (7-3) threw a complete-game, four-hit shutout to help lead Forney to a 4-0 victory over Nacogdoches in the third game of a best-of-three Class 4A area series Saturday.
The Jackrabbits (23-13) advance to the regional quarterfinals to take on District 10-4A foe Mesquite Poteet.
With a convincing 12-4 victory in Game 1 and a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh in Game 2, the Dragons were in total control of baseball series late Friday.
But after allowing four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and dropping a 7-6 decision in Game 2, Nacogdoches didn't have time to dwell on the previous night with a 1 p.m. start Saturday at Mike Carter Field.
They seemed to never get past Friday night's seventh inning, appearing shell-shocked in the decisive third game.
"We let it slip away (Friday night)," NHS head coach Todd Sparks said. "We had a chance to close it out, but didn't. That's the way it goes sometimes."
Forney's senior right-hander struck out seven Dragons, while walking none. At one stretch in the game, Woodruff struck out four consecutive batters and six out of seven outs came via the strikeouts.
"We just didn't put anything together," Sparks said. "They got to Eric (Opperman) early, but Tim Wilson came in and did a great job."
Opperman was touched for four runs off eight hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked two batters and struck out two.
The Jackrabbits led off the game with back-to-back doubles by Dillon Smith and Taylor Thompson to take an early 1-0 lead.
Woodruff helped his own cause with an RBI single in the third inning. A two-run single by Smith in the fourth inning wrapped up the game's scoring.
The bright spot for the Dragons was the relief effort by Wilson, a sophomore who has been on the junior varsity all season. Wilson replaced Opperman on the mound with one out and two runners on the fourth inning. He allowed a single to the first batter he faced to load the bases, but forced Woodruff to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Wilson allowed two hits and two walks in 3 2/3 shutout innings to keep the Dragons within striking distance. He also struck out a batter.
The Dragons never found an offensive rhythm. They did get back-to-back singles from Cameron Hamilton and Opperman with two outs in the fifth inning, but Wallace grounded out to halt the threat.
Jake Skeeters and Stewart Hill added the other singles for the Dragons, who didn't have an extra-base hit. The Dragons did have runners on second and third base with only one out in the third inning, but Woodruff struck out Opperman and Wallace to begin his string of strikeouts.
Smith and Drew Presley led the Jackrabbits offense. Smith had a double, a single and two RBI, and Presley, the No. 9 hitter for Forney, went 2-for-2 with two doubles.
Seniors Opperman, Hill, Justin McAninch, Stephen Canty, Cody Lock, Brady Colby, DeAndre Reeves and Randy Franks played their final game of their stellar high school careers for Nacogdoches (23-8).
"We had a great season," Sparks said. "We set a goal of winning the district championship, and we did that. The guys that are seniors are a special group to me."
