Tuesday, April 16, 2024
The Gatesville Hornets baseball team has won five of its last six games as the Hornets head to Franklin for their final round of tournament play this season.
The Hornets previous tournament outing – winning three of four games at Rogers – featured a pair of double-digit scoring nights, another gem from pitching ace Bralen Veazey, and a peek into a bright future in a win over Clifton.
They opened the tournament with a 10-2 victory over Rogers and a 4-0 win over Silsbee. The win over Rogers was highlighted by home runs from Banner Allman and Kason Herbelin, as well as two scoreless innings of work from pitcher Grant Erwin.
Erwin started and allowed only one hit while striking out four in his two innings. In the top of the third inning, Allman hit a solo home run to left to break a scoreless tie. The Hornets extended their lead to 2-0 in the fourth, then erupted for eight runs in the fifth inning.
Herbelin tripled to start the fifth inning, then scored on a double from Lawson Mooney. Up 6-0 later in the inning, Herbelin hit a towering grand slam to left field to score Ben Mabry, Mason Mooney, and Miles Tull and make it 10-0.
In the Hornets’ win over Silsbee, Veazey outdueled Tigers’ pitcher Logan Simmons, a University of Houston signee. Simmons allowed just two hits and two earned runs but hit four batters. Veazey struck out nine hitters and allowed three hits and no runs.
“What makes (Veazey) so good is he has a lot of tools he can use to get hitters out,” said head coach Chase Smith. “He wasn’t able to locate his fastball and didn’t have his off-speed stuff going early but he was able to find it later in the game and get his off-speed stuff over. He is really hard to hit when he gets that going. He just has to trust his stuff and he battled today and beat a really good team and another great pitcher.”
The Hornets got on the board with the deciding runs in the fifth thanks to back-to-back doubles from freshman Brady James and Veazey.
“I felt like both wins today were what we needed. They were both quality wins over really good baseball teams and it should give us confidence for the future when we face a really tough district with some good arms and velocity,” said Smith.
Freshman Gehrig Keeton picked up his first varsity win in the Hornets’ 12-2 victory over Clifton. Keeton threw five innings and struck out nine while allowing just one earned run. Lawson Mooney was 3-for-3 in the win while Herbelin and Carter Williams had two hits apiece. Mabry also tripled and drove in three runs.
The four-game win streak came to an end with a 6-3 loss in the tournament championship game against Bosqueville – the state’s No. 2 ranked team in Class 2A. Allman homered again in the loss, and James and Williams each drove in a run. Lawson Mooney singled and stole two bases.
The Hornets got back on the winning track thanks to a 17-1 win over McGregor. Mabry had three hits and drove in four runs while John Ibarra and Clayton Gregory had two hits apiece. Herbelin tripled in the top of the second inning, giving the Hornets seven triples in 11 games this season. They have also hit four home runs. Both numbers are the most of any team in Smith’s tenure as head coach.
“We have a bunch of competitors in our lineup that are going to show up ready to play every game. Lawson, Banner, Brady and Veazey have been good at the plate and when you get guys like (Justin) Johnson and Herbelin going it’s a tough lineup to get through,” Smith said. “I think teams know we are going to be on the move on the bases and getting our guys going at the plate too makes it tough on pitchers and opponents.”
Gatesville opened tournament play on March 10 against Class 3A No. 3-ranked Franklin and 3A No. 8 Lorena. They will face Smithville and Palestine on March 11 and return home to play La Grange on Monday with a 1:30 p.m. start.
