Thursday, May 2, 2024
Clayton Gregory pitched two shutout innings of relief and drove in the winning run as Gatesville came from behind to beat Salado 2-1 in eight innings on April 16.
With the game tied at 1-1 in the top of the eighth inning, Gregory ripped a single to left field that scored Logan Biggs to give Gatesville their first lead of the game at 2-1. In the bottom of the eighth, Gregory quickly retired the first two Eagles hitters of the inning before finishing the game with a swinging strikeout of Owen Curtis to end the thriller.
Veazey started for the Hornets and turned in a typical start allowing just five hits and zero earned runs in six innings of work. He struck out seven before giving way to Gregory in a 1-1 game to start the seventh.
Gregory walked Brody Naegele with one out, and his courtesy runner, Jeb Hercules, promptly stole second. Hercules moved to third after a groundout but Gregory fanned Kannon to strand Hercules at third. Gregory has made four relief appearances in district play and struck out 11 while allowing just two hits.
“Ol’ Clayton came up in the clutch,” said head coach Chase Smith. “He was going to finish that one for us. He would have had to come out and hit a bunch of guys or something silly for me to pull him.”
Outside of a pair of hiccups in losses to China Spring, the Hornets pitching staff has allowed four runs in their five district wins. Salado’s only run on Tuesday was unearned dropping Veazey’s ERA to 1.209 on the year.
Salado’s Dylan Wigely kept the Hornets offense in check through the first six innings. Gatesville threatened to score in the top of the first after Miles Tull walked and Lawson Mooney singled but came up empty. Over the next four innings, they would get no hits and have just one baserunner via a Justin Johnson walk in the top of the third.
Johnson broke the drought with a single to start the sixth inning, then stole second three pitches later. He scored the Hornets first run when Veazey laced a two-out RBI single to right field and tied the game 1-1.
Johnson has largely occupied the six and seven spots while hitting .293 on the season. Smith dropped the senior outfielder to the number nine spot for the Salado game, and Johnson rewarded his coach with a single, a walk, and a stolen base while essentially functioning as a second leadoff hitter.
“I like what Justin gives us when he can get on, and he is scrappy and finds different ways to get on really well. Sometimes, things work out like you plan, and, sometimes, they don’t, and it ended up working out for us tonight. That was a just a great game all the way around,” said Smith.
In the top of the eighth, Veazey drew a two-out walk. Then Biggs – his courtesy runner – advanced to third when Bradey James singled to right setting up Gregory’s game-winning single.
With the win the Hornets move into a tie for second-place in the district with the Eagles with 5-2 league marks. The two teams matched up again on April 19, and the Hornets would lock up the No. 2 spot in the postseason with a win and then a season-ending sweep of La Vega.
Should Gatesville lose to Salado on April 19, they would still finish second if Salado were to lose their final two games to China Spring and the Hornets take down the Pirates.
