Tuesday, April 16, 2024
The Gatesville High School baseball team is prepping for a brutal district slate with an equally difficult stretch of games before league play begins.
The Hornets will open district play March 28 against Robinson, and by the time that game arrives the Hornets will have faced six teams that have been state-ranked this season. They will face two more – China Spring and Salado – during district play.
“Putting together the schedule I knew it would be tough and that we would see good teams and we have. We have played some of the best teams in every tournament we have played,” said GHS head coach Chase Smith.
In the recently completed Franklin Tournament, the Hornets (7-8) lost four straight, against state-ranked teams. They lost their tournament opener 10-0 to Class 3A No. 8-ranked Lorena, then fell to 3A No. 2 Franklin 4-2.
In the Rogers Tournament the Hornets took down 3A No. 23 Rogers 10-2 but lost 6-3 to 2A No. 2 Bosqueville. In the Salado tournament the Hornets fell by an 8-3 margin to 4A No. 18 Gateway Prep.
Outside of tournament play the Hornets have faced 3A No. 12 Troy and will take on 4A No. 15 Taylor on Mar. 17, and have a March 21 rematch with Bosqueville.
Despite a frustrating weekend in Franklin, coach Smith thought his team reaped the benefits of playing a tough draw.
“The positives from the Franklin tournament are that we got to see some really good pitching,” Smith said. “Seeing that kind of pitching and being in a position late in a couple of those games to win were big for us. We are going to see good pitching nearly every district game and I think it will prepare us for that.”
In addition to seeing good pitching, the Hornets also got good pitching from Bralen Veazey, Gehrig Keeton, Brady James, and John Ibarra.
Veazey took the loss against Franklin despite striking out six and scattering eight hits over 4-2/3 innings. Keeton – a freshman — was dealt a loss in an 8-1 setback to Smithville, but allowed just four earned runs over six innings. James and Ibarra combined to allow six hits, two earned runs and strike out three in a 4-3 loss to Palestine.
The Hornets offense will also look to find some of its earlier productivity after scoring just six runs in their last four games. The Hornets hit just .235 in Franklin – well below their season average of .316 heading into the tournament.
“We have a bunch of really solid guys in our lineup and they haven’t all clicked at the same time yet and those guys are too good to hold down too long,” the coach said. “I think we have some guys that are about to get going because they are putting the work in and playing hard. So it’s going to be tough when we all get rolling together at the same time.”
The Hornets got back in the win column with a 5-2 victory over La Grange on March 15. The offense struggled early – going without a hit until Justin Johnson singled to left to start the bottom of the fifth inning. But the Hornets took advantage of La Grange errors and applied pressure on the base paths to pick up the win.
With Gatesville trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth, Brady James reached on an error then Veazey and Mason Mooney drew consecutive walks to load the bases. A passed ball scored James to make it 2-1, then Ben Mabry laced a single to score courtesy runner William Crozier, tying the game at 2-2.
Gatesville’s added two more runs without a hit during John Ibarra’s at-bat. A balk scored Mason Mooney then a passed ball scored Mabry and made it 4-2. They tacked on a final run when Lawson Mooney’s sacrifice fly brought in Kason Herbelin.
Veazey struck out 10 and walked two while scattering seven hits. Allman got the win after getting the final three outs of the game.
Smith hopes the late inning rally will be a catalyst for his team heading into the final stretch before district.
“I’m excited about our last few non district games and I expect our guys are going to be ready to go come district time in a couple weeks,” said Smith.
