Tuesday, April 23, 2024
In the midst of a playoff run, most coaches are prone to large amounts of “coach speak”.
They tend to avoid color and candor, will offer generic compliments about their opponent, bland platitudes about the game, and keep the emotion to a minimum.
Chase Smith is not most coaches.
After his Hornets had swept Giddings two games to none, after the Area Championship trophy had been presented, and after all the family photos had been taken, Smith stood alone in the home dugout and packed up his bag with tears in his eyes.
“I’m just super proud. I was thinking about my time as a player, all the ups and downs the past three seasons, and just how proud I was of these guys. It kind of came to head and was an emotional moment for me,” Smith said.
In three seasons as head coach, Smith has turned the Hornet program from afterthought to area champs.
In the two seasons before Smith became head coach the Hornets were a combined 11-27. In 2019, they went 5-20 then 6-7 in the COVID shortened season of 2020.
Smith took over the head job in 2021 and led the Hornets to the playoffs with a 16-14 record. In 2022, he guided a team decimated by loss to within one game of the postseason.
His 2023 team has seen its share of injuries, inconsistency, slumps, and near-misses. Now they will see the Regional Quarterfinals for just the third time in school history.
“I have been telling the guys how special it was and how much I wanted them to get to experience what I was able to experience as a player,” said Smith, a player on Gatesville’s first regional quarterfinalist in 2006 “It’s a special feeling they will remember forever getting to see all the kids look up to them and all the people of Gatesville get behind them.”
After technically pulling off an upset over 24-4A champion Marble Falls in the bi-district round, there was no doubt that the Hornets were the superior team in the area round. The Hornet hitters – particularly the left-handed bats – battered the Buffaloes 11-0 in game one. They took game two by a 4-2 score thanks to a dazzling performance from pitcher Grant Erwin.
Erwin threw a complete game four-hitter to get the win, striking out nine and walking just one batter. Two of the hits and the lone walk all came in the bottom of the first inning when Giddings jumped out to 2-0 lead. After that, Erwin was nearly untouchable.
Following an RBI double from Giddings’ Peyton Tomas in the first inning, Erwin retired 15 straight batters until allowing a single in the bottom of the sixth.
“He was really good on the mound and has been solid when he has been healthy all year,” Smith said. “He was able to keep them off balance and going back and watching the game his breaking ball was really moving which made it tough on them.”
Thanks to a Gatesville scoring a run and numerous conferences between the Giddings coaches and the umpiring crew the top of seventh inning was a prolonged affair and might have afforded Smith the opportunity to give the ball to one of his many relievers.
“I usually talk to our pitchers briefly about simple adjustments and how they are feeling in between innings, and he said he was good to go for the seventh, so it was all his from there,” he said.
Erwin gave up one more single in the seventh but got his ninth strikeout of the night to end the game and the series.
The Hornets led 3-2 heading into the top of the seventh inning but tacked on an additional run thanks to an RBI single from pinch-hitter Jacob Ybarra. After Bralen Veazey laced a double to right field and Ben Mabry singled, Ybarra flared the first pitch he saw into right field to score pinch runner Sean Aguilar and make it 4-2.
“I can’t say enough good things about Jacob Ybarra. He is the ultimate teammate, captain and has set the example and tone for this team. He is just selfless and the kind of kid you wish you had more of on your team as a coach,” Smith said. “He will leave a legacy on this program that will last for years.”
After falling behind 2-0, Gatesville came back and scored three times in the top of the second inning to take a 3-2 lead. Veazey and Mabry singled to start the inning then a walk from Justin Johnson loaded the bases for leadoff hitter Lawson Mooney.
Mooney dropped a singled into left to score Veazey and Mabry and Banner Allman followed with a single to score Johnson.
Allman – hitting .417 since the start of district - had three hits in game two after a rather unique stat line in game one. The senior shortstop went 0-0 in the opener but scored two runs and had two RBI. He was hit by a pitch twice, walked, and recorded a sacrifice fly.
“(Banner) is swinging the bat with confidence and slinging it across the diamond with confidence and that is good for us as a team because he is really important to our team’s success,” Smith said. “He had a stretch early where he was trying to find the feel and confidence both defensively and offensively but really since district started and, in the playoffs, he has played really well.”
The Hornets had 11 hits in game two with five coming from the combination Veazey, Mabry, and freshman Bradey James – three lefties who occupy consecutive spots in the heart of the Hornets lineup.
“It does go against what most college and major league teams try to do and that’s split up lefties, but my thought process is, one, they can all hit and, two, the guys ahead of them are probable going to get on,” Smith said. “It’s a little science but most comes down to them just being able to really hit and I like the guys at the bottom of the lineup giving us some speed to turn the lineup over.”
Veazey, the designated hitter on days he isn’t pitching, is a remarkable 7 for 10 in the Hornets last three playoff games while Mabry is 6 for 9 and James has three hits over the same stretch.
“Ben seems to just not be phased by any type of pressure situation. He gets in there and competes and has been huge for us the past two playoff series. I have a ton of confidence in his ability to get it done at the plate as well as in the field. He has been really good for us down the stretch,” Smith said.
In game one, the Hornets had only seven hits but benefitted from seven Giddings errors to score their 11 runs. They also had Veazey on the mound and the junior ace held Giddings to three hits and no runs while collecting three hits and two RBI of his own. Mabry had two hits in the opener and James singled and scored two runs.
Veazey struck out five hitters in game one and his seventh inning strikeout of Cole Patschke was his 125th of the season – a new program record. The previous record of 124 was set by Johnny Clark in 1988. Clark’s grandson Collyn Coleman is currently a freshman catcher for the Hornets.
Kason Herbelin also continued his stellar postseason with two hits in game one and another in game two. The senior has hit safely in four of five postseason games from the number nine spot in the lineup.
“Pitchers tend to throw more fastballs over the plate and Herbelin hunts those pitches and has a ton of success down there,” said Smith. “Nine-hole in my mind is second leadoff and a guy that can turn your lineup over and he does both of those things for us.”
As a reward for advancing to the Regional Quarterfinals the Hornets faced district rival and reigning 23-4A champion China Spring in a one-game playoff Thursday at 7 p.m. at Lake Belton High School.
The Cougars were state semi-finalists a year ago, currently sit at 30-3-1, and were ranked No. 5 in the state in the final regular season poll. They beat Gatesville 10-0 in China Spring on April 3 and 7-3 in Gatesville on April 10.
