Monday, May 20, 2024
Technically, it took two days, two trips to Lago Vista, and 14 innings of baseball for Gatesville to sweep the Vikings and capture their second straight bi-district baseball title.
In reality, the series was over in the top of the first inning in game one - right about the time Bralen Veazey’s colossal home run cleared the big blue monster in right field.
Veazey’s blast over the 20-foot wall gave Gatesville a quick 2-0 lead, and the Hornets never trailed and never looked back as they dominated the Vikings 7-3 and 8-0 to advance to the area round for the second straight year and fifth time since 1980.
Sophomore hurler Gehrig Keeton got the win in game one going six innings and allowing just one run while striking out three. Veazey – a senior - won game two with five innings of two-hit shutout ball, while Clayton Gregory came in and closed out both games.
“Gehrig and Veazey set the tone for us on the mound. Gehrig had everything going and pitched a great game. Veazey’s off-speed stuff is so hard to hit he was able to be really effective, and Clayton Gregory has settled into that closer role and shut the door both games for us,” Smith said.
The Hornets offense kept the bases crowded throughout the two-game series. They banged out 11 hits, drew 11 walks and four hit-by-pitches, reached on a fielder’s choice four times, and reached on three errors, all while striking out just eight times.
It was textbook Gatesville baseball just the way Smith wanted it.
“We played the kind of baseball I like to play, and that’s having our pitchers throw strikes, played some small ball, put pressure on the defense on the bases, and being great situational hitters,” Smith said. “I told them pre-game that it would be the team that makes the least amount of mistakes that would win these games, and we were able to be that team.”
The Vikings finished third in District 24-4A, making the Hornets the favorite in the series. But at least one high school baseball authority had Lago Vista penciled in for a third-round matchup with 24-4A champion Burnet.
Smith was aware of the prediction and aware of the perception of his program and used it to the Hornets advantage.
“Our motto all year has been ‘earn it,’ and that applies to not only playoff wins and trophies but everyone’s respect,” Smith said. “I think a lot of people on the outside still kind of associate us as being a team that fights for the last playoff spot and gets put out in the first round or doesn’t make the playoffs at all, and that’s not the case anymore. We have a lot of kids who work extremely hard and not only have the expectations gone up, but our level of play has as well.”
The differences between the two programs were noticeable throughout the series.
Friday night’s game two was scheduled to be played in Gatesville, but torrential rains made conditions unplayable at Ryan Powell Memorial Field, so the contest was moved back to Lago Vista’s all-weather, artificial turf field with the blue monster in right field with “Vikings” plastered in 18-foot script.
The Vikings featured two college signees, were brash and talkative, and seemed intent on making routine plays flashy. Their confidence meant an aggressive base-running style that led to more mistakes than runs.
In contrast, Gatesville’s defense made the difficult look routine and took advantage of every opportunity on the bases as Miles Tull, Lawson Mooney, Sean Aguilar, Jastin Muegge, and Justin Johnson ran wild all series.
One series of plays from game one and one play from game two provided examples of the two team’s style of play.
In the top of the sixth inning of game one, the Hornets led 5-1 with Johnson on first base and Muegge on third base. Tull laid down a bunt, and Muegge made a mad dash for home where he was tagged out by the Lago Vista pitcher. As the pitcher took a moment to celebrate, point and trash-talk Muegge, Johnson alertly swiped third base.
Two plays later, he unleashed a wild pitch, allowing Johnson to score and push the lead to 6-1. Johnson offered a celebration of his own, and while the pitcher argued the call, Tull never stopped running from first and wound up on third. He later scored on an infield single from Mooney to make it 7-1.
Muegge, Tull, and Johnson combined for 20 plate appearances in the series and reached base 15 times.
“We spent a lot of time talking about not making mistakes on the basepaths, and I felt like we ran the bases really well. Miles, Muegge, and JJ were huge for us. They were able to find ways to get on nearly every time for us, and when they get on they create problems for defenses,” said Smith. “I think it was huge for them. I know they would like to be hitting a bunch of doubles but they know the value they add to our lineup when they get on base…those walks turn into double a lot of times within a couple pitches and they know that.”
The final out of the series was also a microcosm of the series-at-large. Lago Vista’s Connor Priddy hit a hard ground ball in the hole between third base and shortstop and, with an 8-0 lead, could have been a ball that Hornet shortstop John Ibarra let through for a base hit.
But the slick-fielding Ibarra quickly slid to his right, scooped the ball off the turf, set his feet and pumped once, then threw a strike to the waiting glove of Charlie Winkler to end the series.
“It’s not flashy but it’s effective and these guys are fully bought in and are worried more about team wins than flashy losses,” said Smith. “We may not be loaded with D-1 or college commits, but our kids don’t quit, and we are becoming a tough team to beat.”
Veazey – already the program’s single-season strikeout leader – struck out five Vikings in Game 2 to assume the program’s all-time strikeout mark as well. His strikeout of Isaac Hodd in the top of the fifth inning gave him 257 career strikeouts and moved him past Craig Loerwald who had 256 strikeouts from 1992-94.
Muegge and Tull each hit .500 in the series, while Mooney hit .429, and Bradey James hit .375. Mooney was 3-4 in game one and scored two runs in game two.
“The bigger the game the better Lawson plays. He is just so good,” said Smith. “Bradey had some really clutch two-out RBI hits that were a big difference maker.”
With Lago Vista in their rear-view mirror, Gatesville now moves on to the area round against 22-4A champion Caldwell. Gatesville beat the Hornets 7-1 in a regular season game on March 18, but Caldwell is 10-4 since then with a district title under their belt.
“They pitched a different guy every inning and had a couple really good arms in there. They play great defense and are well coached. We are going to have to play our best to beat those guys,” said Smith.
Games 1 and 2 were set to be played on Thursday, May 9 at Live Oak Park in Waco. Game 3, if necessary, would be played in Caldwell on May 10. Caldwell missed the postseason in 2023, while the Hornets defeated Giddings in the area round in 2023.
