Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Gatesville baseball wraps a rigorous non-district schedule with a home game against 3A No. 9 Franklin on Saturday. Then they will turn their attention to district play, which starts on March 25 at Robinson.
The Hornets (11-7-1) dropped a 3-1 decision to 4A No. 21 Brownwood on March 19 despite stellar pitching from Gehrig Keeton. The sophomore threw a 61-pitch complete-game and scattered five hits while allowing just two earned runs and striking out four.
Brownwood took a 2-0 lead in the first, and the Hornets got their lone run in the top third when Bralen Veazey doubled home Lawson Mooney, who had drawn a one-out walk. Veazey had two of Gatesville’s five hits and is hitting .385 on the season to lead the Hornets.
Left fielder Justin Johnson and right fielder Jastin Muegge each had hits for the Hornets as well.
On March 18, the Hornets traveled to Caldwell for a game that was a late addition to the schedule and picked up a 7-1 win. Bradey James cruised to a complete-game win allowing just two hits over seven innings. Muegge had two hits in the win, while Veazey, Mooney, James, and Collyn Coleman each had hits.
In a 7-3 loss to Temple on March 16, the Hornets were undone by errors and an untimely loss of control as their staff walked seven Wildcats and hit three more. Gatesville out hit Temple 7-3 in the loss.
Gatesville led 3-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth, but the Wildcats scored six runs with just one hit in the inning. The Hornets issued six walks, hit two batters, and saw four passed balls in a wild inning.
Miles Tull had a pair of hits in the loss while James, Clayton Gregory, Johnson, Muegge, and Logan Biggs also had hits.
The non-district finale against Franklin will be the Hornets’ fifth game this season against a team ranked in the top 25 in their respective classification. In district, they will face defending state champion and current 4A No. 1 China Spring on April 2 and April 5.
