The two teams in the worst loss in Texas high school baseball history met again Friday night.
Lake Highlands beat W.W. Samuell 54-0 in five innings last month, prompting the expansion of the district's mercy rule.
Under the National Federation of Baseball Rule Book, games can be called if a team is up by 10 runs after five innings,
But after last month's blowout, District 9-5A voted to allow games to be ended as early as the third inning if a team has a 15-run lead, the Dallas Morning News reported. Games can also be ended in the fourth inning if a team is ahead by 12 runs.
The national federation rule then kicks in with the fifth inning, as happened in Friday's rematch between Lake Highlands and Samuell.
The game ended in the fifth inning with a final score of 13-0.
Last month, Lake Highlands and Samuell came face-to-face for the first time in decades.
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"We haven't played Samuell since 1967, and 1967 they were state champions," said Jay Higgins, Lake Highlands coach.
Coach Jay Higgins, who has coached the team for 44 years, was there for that game.
But he said he wasn't prepared for the game on March 8.
"In 44 years, we've never come close to scoring 54 runs," Higgins said.
While there was initial confusion over the actual final score, Higgins now says the score was 54-0. The scoreboard said 53-0, while Higgins said after the game that it was 57-0.
But Higgins said Friday that a parent who tracks every game on an iPad later called in to say the final score was 54-0.
Lake Highlands scored 15 runs in just the first inning.
"After that ballgame, I got on the phone and called four coaches that I've known for a long time and said, 'We need to do something because that's not good for baseball,'" Higgins said.
Jeff Johnson, the athletic director of the Dallas Independent School District, agreed.
Dallas Independent School District Athletic Director, Jeff Johnson wholeheartedly agreed.
"We talked to both sides and both coaches, and that kind of led to some things and let up to adding this mercy rule," he said.
No matter how a team loses, the best thing is to get back out on the field, Johnson said.
Samuell players did just that Friday, keeping Lake Highlands to just two runs in the first inning.
"They're a team that quite obviously has less talent than Lake Highlands has, but they're playing the game, and they're playing because they love to play the game," Johnson said.
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