Rudder's Matt Voneiff capped a wild high school baseball warmup game with an eighth-inning single to give the Rangers a 10-9 victory over the New Waverly Bulldogs on Saturday at Rudder High School.

Voneiff's hit followed singles by Tim Deahl and Tyler Matcek that gave the Rangers an emotional lift heading into the school's first postseason appearance. Rudder (22-6) will play Orangefield next weekend in a best-of-3 Class 3A area playoff series at Baseball USA in Houston.

The series will be hard-pressed to match what happened in Saturday's 3-hour, 35-minute game against New Waverly, which is ranked third in the state in Class 2A.

Rudder took a 7-3 lead with a five-run fifth highlighted by Kyle Danford's two-run homer. But New Waverly (26-3) scored six in the seventh to force extra innings.

The bottom half of the eighth inning was delayed when the home-plate umpire had everyone sitting on New Waverly's side leave the stands. A handful of fans complaining about the umpires' calls triggered the mass ejections.

Rudder made sure anyone who left didn't miss much as the Rangers quickly pinned the loss on Kody Coleman, who was the fifth New Waverly pitcher.

"We hit the ball. We fielded the ball. We did the things necessary to get ready for a very good playoff team," Rudder head coach James Ward said. "I was very pleased."

Rudder banged out 15 hits. Danford and Will Johnson had homers, while No. 8 hitter Matcek had a big game, going 4 for 4 with a walk. His first two singles each came with two outs to give Rudder a 2-0 lead. He also had a single in the five-run fifth. He spoiled about 10 pitches during the game while batting with two strikes.

Rudder pushed the lead to 9-3 in the sixth. Johnson homered. Austin Baron doubled and Matt Smith singled.

Pesky New Waverly, though, took advantage of four walks and a hit batsman to tie it. It was the second time in the game the Rangers' pitchers struggled with a lead.

New Waverly converted two walks and a hit batsman into three runs in the fifth, wiping out a 2-0 Rudder lead.

"I'm not sure what's going on with our pitchers right now," Ward said. "We're walking way too many. They know that. We're going to get back to doing our basic stuff and be ready for next Friday in Houston."

It was a tough game for New Waverly, which will play Hardin in 2A area action this week. Shortstop Eric Koonce, who leads off, injured his hand in the fourth inning on a hustle play. Baron walked and was sacrificed to second with the bunt fielded by NW third baseman Matt Gray. Baron raced to third on the play, but Koonce had the angle. Koonce took the throw from first baseman Tate Maddox and made a diving tag, but lost the ball.

Koonce, who is hitting .378, was taken to the hospital for X-rays.

Bulldog starting pitcher Matt Roberts (11-0) also took a vicious shot off the forearm from Danford in the first inning. Roberts finished the inning and also threw the second inning.

Rudder's defense struggled in the third inning with two errors. But center fielder Baron ended NW's three-run third with a running catch of a blast by Casey Jackson. Baron turned around twice while back pedaling but made the grab right in front of the fence to save at least two runs.

NW had only five hits but was issued 11 walks and had three batters hit.

No. 9 hitter Micah Bohannon had the biggest hit, a two-run single to tie the game in the seventh. Bohannon was the first batter right-hander Matcek (7-1) faced. The freshman settled down to strand two runners in scoring position.

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NOTES -- Rudder was the runner-up in District 24-3A, while Orangefield won 21-3A. Game 1 will be at 7 p.m. Friday. Game 2 will be at 2 p.m. Saturday with Game 3 to follow if necessary. ... New Waverly is playing Hardin on Thursday and Friday because the Bulldogs have two starters -- center fielder Eli Amador and left fielder Ryan Reyes -- who will be running at the state track meet in Austin on Saturday. ... New Waverly is coached by Tommy Bohannon, who is in his third year; he also coached at Iola. Two of his sons start -- Cole was the designated hitter and pitched, and Micah was the right fielder. ... New Waverly and Rudder split a pair of nondistrict games. Rudder won 12-5 in the first week of the season and NW won 8-2 on March 13.

Rudder 10, New Waverly 9

New Waverly 000 030 60-- 9 5 3

Rudder 010 152 01-- 10 15 2

Matt Roberts, Cole Bohannon (3), Clint Brown (5), Tate Maddox (5), Kody Coleman (6) and Kyle Parkinson. Matt Smith, Charleston Samuel (3), Will Johnson (5), Tyler Matcek (7) and Tim Deahl, Smith (5). W -- Matcek, 7-1. L -- Coleman, 0-1. HR -- Kyle Danford, Rudder (5th); Johnson, Rudder (8th).

Leading hitters -- (NW) Micah Bohannon 1-2, 2 RBIs, 2 BBs; (R) Danford 2 for 4, 2 RBIs, BB; Austin Baron 2 for 4, RBI, 2B, BB; Smith 2 for 4, RBI; Tyler Matcek 4 for 4, 2 RBIs, BB.