Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Thanks to a 17-0 rout of Waco La Vega the Gatesville Hornets baseball team is back in the postseason.
The Hornets were bi-district finalists in 2021 but missed the playoffs in 2022. They will face District 24-4A champion Marble Falls in the first round (bi-district) with game one tentatively set for May 4.
The win over La Vega also saw junior Bralen Veazey hit the 100-strikeout mark for the season. Veazey came into the contest needing eight strikeouts and finished the game with 13 punchouts. He allowed just two baserunners, via a walk and a bloop single to right.
Offensively, seven of Gatesville’s 13 hits came from the top three spots in the lineup. Leadoff man Lawson Mooney had two hits, three RBI and scored three times while Banner Allman went 3-for-4 with four RBI and scored three runs of his own. John Ibarra went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
The rest of the Hornets lineup did their part to get on base drawing 11 walks between them. Clayton Gregory, Mason Mooney, and Kason Herbelin each walked twice and scored at least one run apiece. Mooney stole a pair of bases while Herbelin had two RBI and scored twice. Senior Carter Williams had a hit, drew a walk, scored once and drove in a run.
The Hornets scored twice in the first inning, then five times in the third, six times in the fourth, and four times in the fifth. The final run of the game came when senior Antonio Osoro walked to score senior Cayden Brister.
After issuing a walk to start the game, Veazey struck out ten consecutive batters before allowing a single to La Vega’s Cayden White in the bottom of the fourth inning. White was promptly picked off at first to end the inning and Veazey added three more strikeouts – on just ten pitches – in the final inning.
The Hornets and Pirates met again in the regular-season finale on Friday and a win would push the Hornets record to 14-14 on the season and 5-5 in district play. The Hornets were swept by China Spring, split with Salado, and swept by Robinson. The losses to Robinson were a pair of extra-inning games that ended in 6-4 and 4-3 defeats.
The Friday night game against La Vega was the final home game for 11 Hornet seniors: Williams, Osoro, Brister, William Crozier, Jacob Ybarra, Grant Erwin, Ayden Necessary, Allman, Mason Mooney, Ben Mabry, and Herbelin.
