Life on a high wire isn't so scary when you've got a safety net or two.

Try nine.

That's how secure Bryan baseball coach David Powers was feeling about his team after the Vikings won their area playoff series against Lufkin on Saturday afternoon at Viking Field. The seventh-ranked Vikings dropped Saturday's opener 6-5 to even the series, but bounced back behind the pitching of Tyler Grygar for a 5-1 victory.

Bryan improved to 30-5-1 on the season and reached the regional quarterfinals for the first time since 1993. The Vikings will play Cedar Park in the third round, with the series starting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Cedar Park and the second game set for noon Saturday in Bryan.

Lufkin finished the season at 19-17.

For the second consecutive week, the Vikings saw their playoff series pushed to three games by dropping the middle game. Each time, the series finale brought out the best in Grygar, the team's leader in victories.

"I like throwing when the game's on the line and it's all in my hands," Grygar said. "That's a lot of fun, pitching with all the pressure on."

An extra game may have strained the folks at the concession stand, but the Vikings appeared unfazed to have their season riding on one game. Bryan was able to relax because Grygar was pitching and the offense was clicking, collecting 12 hits in Saturday's first game.

"When you've got Grygar walking out to the hill, you've got a lot of confidence," Powers said. Asked if his team had more than one safety net, Powers said, "About nine of them."

While Grygar kept his record flawless at 11-0, he wasn't quite perfect Saturday. The Panthers nicked the senior right-hander for two hits in the first inning and five in the first four innings, but Grygar was able to coax a key grounder or notch a strikeout to keep Lufkin from scoring.

Grygar increased his stretching routine behind the mound before innings because his hamstring was bothering him, but he came up with a couple of big strikeouts after the Panthers put a runner at third with one out in the third inning.

The Vikings put pressure on Lufkin by scoring twice in the first inning and adding another run in the second. Grygar, who went 6 for 8 in the doubleheader, led off with a double and scored on a double by Sean Weatherford. In the second, Bryan added an unearned run on a two-out throwing error by catcher Zach Marberry.

"It was real important to get ahead of them early," Grygar said. "This was a hot day, and you're going to get tired. I knew they were going to be on an adrenaline rush and be emotional [after winning the first game], but I just threw my game."

Bryan padded the lead in the fourth. Weatherford, the winning pitcher in Thursday's series opener, lined a single up the middle with two outs before sophomore Krey Bratsen blasted a two-run homer that made it 5-0 and finished Lufkin starter J.P. Clifton.

"We knew we still had a lot of firepower after that first game," Grygar said. "We don't let little things get us down. We just keep playing our game, which is solid defense, good hitting and pitching. We hit the ball pretty well today."

Lufkin managed only one hit over the last three innings. The Panthers scored an unearned run in the fifth when Bryan made two errors.

Those were about the only hiccups as the Vikes played a solid all-around game.

Saturday's opener proved a good fit for the six purple and white flags flapping over the Lufkin side of the stands, because it was a wild ride.

The Vikings twice built two-run leads, cashing in as Collin Janssen, Bratsen and Grygar started three-hit games. Grygar's third hit in the first four innings drove in Thomas Ponzio, who had an RBI double, to give Bryan a 4-2 lead after four innings.

Lufkin grabbed its first lead of the series in the fifth, when cleanup hitter John Tatum slugged a grand slam that made it 6-4.

Bryan cut the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Bratsen reached on an infield single and scored on a two-out single by catcher Janssen, who finished the day with four hits and did an exceptional job of handling pitches in the dirt.

Center fielder Weatherford contributed two outstanding defensive plays, throwing out a runner at the plate and later making a diving catch.

The Vikings managed just one hit in the last two innings against Chase Greening, who pitched a complete game.

• Larry Bowen's e-mail address is larry.bowen@theeagle.com.

Lufkin 6, Bryan 5

Lufkin 000 240 0 -- 6 7 1

Bryan 110 210 0 -- 5 12 2

Krey Bratsen, Ryan Ullmann (5), David Williams (7) and Collin Janssen. Chase Greening and Zach Marberry. W -- Greening, 5-3. L -- Ullmann, 3-2. 2B -- Bryan: Thomas Ponzio. HR -- Lufkin: Seth Thompson, John Tatum. Time: 2:03.

Bryan 5, Lufkin 1

Lufkin 000 010 0 -- 1 6 2

Bryan 210 200 x -- 5 10 2

Tyler Grygar and Collin Janssen. J.P. Clifton, Luis DeJesus (4) and Zach Marberry. W -- Grygar, 11-0. L -- Clifton, 3-4. 2B -- Lufkin: Jonathan Fletcher 2; Bryan: Grygar, Sean Weatherford, David Pfuntner, Adam Kolinek. HR -- Bryan: Krey Bratsen. Time: 1:50. Records: Lufkin 19-17, Bryan 30-5-1. Next: Bryan will play Cedar Park in the Class 5A Region II quarterfinals.

BRYAN BASEBALL

BRYAN 5-5, LUFKIN 6-1

5A REGION II AREA

SERIES: Bryan wins 2-1

RECORDS: Bryan (30-5-1), Lufkin (19-17)

NEXT: Bryan vs. Cedar Park, regional quarterfinals (best-of-3)

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