Sports
As roll to Majors Baseball city championship
May 22nd, 2013
(Seguin) – The As captured the Seguin Little League Majors Baseball city championship Saturday night with a 10-0 victory over the Dodgers in the city tournament title game at Starcke Park. The win capped a 13-1 season for the top seeded As, while the Dodgers, seeded third in the tournament, finished the year at 7-6.
As starting pitcher Rawson Young tossed a two-hitter and struck out 13 in five innings to earn the complete-game win. Kendall Harborth had the Dodgers’ only two hits off Young, a double in the top of the first inning, and a single in the fourth.
The As established a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Kristian Rangel reached base on a dropped ball after a third strike, Young followed by reaching on an error, and A.J. Guajardo drove in both with a double.
Guajardo finished the night 2-2 with three RBIs and three runs scored.
In the bottom of the second, the As tacked on three more runs to build the cushion to 5-0. Myles McCord led off the frame with a bunt for a single, took second on a wild pitch, and came home on an error. After a pair of strikeouts by Dodgers’ starter Harborth, Young walked and made it to third on a passed ball, then scored on Guajardo’s RBI-single. Jeremy Cevallos drove in Guajardo with a base hit.
Cevallos went 2-3 on the night, drove in three, and walked once.
McCord was hit by a pitch with one out in the third inning, and after a walk by Robby Bone, McCord sprinted home on Rangel’s RBI groundout to make it a 6-0 game.
Guajardo walked to start the bottom of the fourth, and Crow reached after a third strike dropped ball. Tyler Fritz walked with one out to load the bases, and McCord was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game to drive in Guajardo. Bone followed with a bases loaded walk to score Crow, and the lead swelled to 8-0.
Young, Guajardo, and Crow each walked to lead off the bottom of the fifth, and a two-RBI double by Cevallos gave the As a 10-0 lead, ending the game by mercy rule.
On the mound for the Dodgers, Harborth struck out six in 2-1/3 innings, and Matt Weichold fanned four batters in 2-2/3 frames of relief work.
The Seguin Little League Majors Baseball All-Stars will be announced June 15, and International All-Star tournament competition will begin in late June.
TLU's Kistler, Spillane named to D3baseball.com's All-West Region baseball team
May 22nd, 2013
(Seguin) – Texas Lutheran pitchers Sean Kistler and Jeff Spillane were named Monday to the
D3baseball.com 2013 All-West Region Second Team.
Kistler and Spillane, both senior right-handers for the Bulldogs, ended their careers Thursday at the NCAA Division III West Region Tournament in Austin.
The Bulldogs concluded 2013 with an overall record of 33-14 and the program's record ninth American Southwest Conference West Division Championship. TLU posted a 16-2 ASC West Division mark.
Kistler set the TLU and ASC records for career saves (22) and did not allow a run (earned or unearned) in 2013. The four-year letterman, TLU's Male Student-Athlete of the Year, did not allow a run in the final 39 innings of his career. His scoreless inning streak dated back to April 6, 2012.
A three-time All-ASC Academic selection, Kistler pitched 29-1/3 innings this season with an ERA of 0.00. The right-hander recorded 14 saves and 33 strikeouts and allowed just 14 hits. His 14 saves in 2013 are a new TLU single-season record.
Kistler tied for the conference-lead in appearances, with 21.
Spillane was the Most Valuable Player of the 2013 ASC Divisional Playoff Round between TLU and East Texas Baptist, and he was named to the All-Tournament Team at the 2013 ASC Championship Tournament.
Spillane went 9-3 this season with an ERA of 2.86. He went at least five innings in all but one of his starts. He struck out a conference-best 84, pitched a conference-high 100-2/3 innings, started
an ASC-high 15 games, and did not allow a home run all season.
The two-year letterman finished his Bulldog career with a complete-game performance against NCAA DIII No. 1-ranked Linfield (Ore.) at the West Region Tournament. Spillane tossed eight innings, struck out five and allowed just two runs.
For his TLU career, Spillane posted a record of 15-8 with an ERA of 2.50.
Both Kistler and Spillane were Capital One Academic All-America nominees.
TLU pitchers led the ASC in team ERA, at 3.05. The Bulldogs struck out a conference-best 317 batters in 399 innings.
The Bulldogs, coached by sixth-year head coach Greg Burnett, advanced to their fourth NCAA DIII West Regional. TLU faced No. 1-ranked Linfield and No. 8-ranked California Lutheran, the top two seeds in the regional, and went 0-2. The Bulldogs lost 2-0 to Linfield and 4-3 to California Lutheran.
TLU will return 26 lettermen, seven position starters, two pitching rotation starters and its designated hitter for the 2014 season.
The Bulldogs will compete in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference in 2014 as TLU's entire athletics program makes the transition from the ASC to the SCAC for the 2013-14 seasons.
Bulldogs outlast Longhorns in three, advance to 2A regional semis
May 21st, 2013
(San Antonio) – The Marion High School baseball team bounced back from its first loss in more than two months over the weekend to survive its 2A regional quarterfinal playoff series against George West in three games at the SAISD Sports Complex in San Antonio.
The Longhorns shocked the Bulldogs 13-4 in game one Friday night, snapping a 15-game Marion win streak dating back to March 12. Marion rebounded with a 4-2 victory in eight innings in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader, and rallied back from a late three-run deficit to win game three 7-6 Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs trailed 6-3 going into the bottom of the sixth Saturday, but Tyler O’Bryan singled in Austin Young with one out to make it a two-run game, Jourden Stanley followed with a base hit, and Tre Lambert’s two-RBI single with two outs scored O’Bryan and Stanley to knot it up at 6-6.
Young, Lambert, and Raphael DeHoyos turned a 5-4-3 double play to help reliever Jacob Hernandez keep George West scoreless in the top of the seventh innings. Victor Garza led off the bottom of the frame with a single, Hernandez followed with a base hit, and Ausitn Soto drove in Garza’s courtesy runner Michael Wahrmund for the series clinching walk-off win.
Marion head coach Jason Fox attributed a good portion of Marion’s clutch play in the late innings Saturday to the team’s veteran leadership.
“You know, our seniors came through for us today. In that last at bat, Tyler O’Bryan – senior – got the big base hit to make it 6-4, Tre plays like a senior and got the big base hit, and then a senior Victor leads things off, senior Jacob Hernandez gets a base hit, and then senior Austin Soto gets the game winner. We told these seniors ‘if ya’ll want to go all the way, y’all got to lead the way,’ and that’s what they did today. They decided the season’s on the line, we don’t want to end it right now, let’s go win it.”
Hernandez worked the final 2-2/3 innings in relief of starter Austin Young to pick up the win. Young, a sophomore, held the Longhorns scoreless through four innings, but George West scored five runs in the fifth and another in the sixth to put Marion in a 6-3 hole.
Lambert and Garza drove in Stanley and Scottie Brown in the first inning, and Stanley singled in DeHoyos to give Marion a 3-0 lead after two.
Friday, George West scored seven runs in the top of the first inning on six hits and a Marion error after having two outs and the bases empty. The Bulldogs never recovered in the 13-4 loss, but a late inning hit by DeHoyos helped set the tone for game two. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth and the Longhorns on the verge of a 13-2 run-rule decision, DeHoyos belted a two-run double to centerfield to erase the 10-run mercy rule, and it took George West the full seven innings to complete the game won victory.
With Marion’s season on the line, DeHoyos put the Bulldogs on his back in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader. On the mound, he tossed a two-hitter and struck out 14 in eight innings to earn the complete game win. At the plate, he hit an inside-the-park home run in the top of the sixth to tie the contest at 2-2.
DeHoyos mixed three walks with two strikeouts to the first five George West batters in the bottom of the seventh, so the Longhorns had the bases loaded with two outs and a chance to end the series right there. DeHoyos struck out Andrew Katsfy to end the threat and force extra innings.
Garza led off the top of the eighth with a single, and Soto drove in Wahrmund (running for Garza) to put Marion up 3-2. Stanley singled in Soto to give the Bulldogs a two-run cushion, and DeHoyos struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth to ensure a third and deciding game would be played on Saturday.
“You know, after the first game, he basically walked up to us and said ‘I’ve got this – I’ll get us to Saturday,” Fox said of DeHoyos. “He’s a competitor. The kid doesn’t know what it is to quit, or to think that he’s beaten. He’s going to fight to the end. He came in that seventh inning, and my coaches said ‘you sticking with #8’, and I said ‘if I take #8 out right now, he’s liable to punch me in the face. Let’s go get him a lead so we can win this ballgame.”
Marion’s first run in game two scored in the top of the third when Hernandez singled in Lambert, but George West plated two in the bottom of the frame to go up 2-1, setting up DeHoyos’s late game heroics.
After scratching out two hard fought wins in response to the lopsided defeat in game one, Fox hopes the series serves as a learning tool for the Bulldogs moving forward.
“We definitely got slapped in the face in game one, and I think now they realize that from here on out, it’s got to be our ‘A’ game, or the season is going to be over with. Even when we’re down, and we’ve got our heads down on the ground, and we think we’re behind, we’ve got the heart of a champion, and we can fight and come back.”
Marion’s record is 27-5. The Bulldogs advances to face Danbury, who swept Schulenburg over the weekend, in the 2A Region 4 semifinals this Friday and Saturday. The series was tentatively scheduled to be played at Texas State in San Marcos at press time, but the details hadn’t bee confirmed.
Saturday Results
May 20th, 2013
Marion baseball def. George West 7-6, wins series 2-1, 2A Regional Quarterfinals @ SAISD Sports Complex
As def. Dodgers 10-0, Seguin Little League Majors Baseball city championship game.
Friday Results
May 20th, 2013
Marion Baseball vs. George West, 2A Regional Quarterfinals @ SAISD Sports Complex
Game 1: George West def. Marion 13-4
Game 2: Marion def. George West 4-2 (8 innings)
TLU baseball ends season with 4-3 regional loss to No. 8 California Lutheran
May 20th, 2013
Austin) – Texas Lutheran's 2013 baseball season came to an end Thursday with a 4-3 loss to No. 8 California Lutheran at the NCAA Division III West Regional Tournament.
TLU closes the year with an overall record of 33-14. The Bulldogs faced the top two seeds of the NCAA West Regional in consecutive days. TLU fell 2-0 to No. 1-ranked Linfield on Wednesday.
At Concordia's Tornado Field, TLU trailed 4-0 in the fifth before scoring a run in the fifth on an RBI single from Ryan Hill.
The Bulldogs loaded the bases in the fifth and the eighth but left five runners on base in those two frames.
Derek Kanas singled home two runs in the eighth to bring the Bulldogs within a run.
CLU closer Aaron Roth gave up four straight singles and two runs in the eighth but kept CLU in the lead. With two runs already across and with runners still at second and third, Roth retired the Bulldogs on a fly ball to left and a pop-up to first.
Roth worked a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his 12th save of the season and clinch the win for Tyler Hebda (9-3), who worked 6-2/3 innings and allowed just five hits. Hebda was perfect through four innings, retiring the first 12 TLU batters he faced.
"All year long we were a team that competed well," said Greg Burnett, TLU's sixth-year head coach. "We battled through adversity all season long, and today it just wasn't enough. And it's the little bitty mistakes that we have to get corrected if we want a chance to actually compete for a championship at this tournament because the West Region is always going to be tough."
"We're glad to be here. (We're) glad that these guys got this experience, but we want them to understand that if we want to take that next step that there are a lot of things that we have to do to get better."
Aaron Aleman started for TLU and lasted just 2-2/3. He allowed three runs, walked three and hit
one. He dropped to 9-6 on the season.
TLU relievers Dwayne Snider, Thomas Harwell and Sean Kistler worked a combined 6-1/3 innings and allowed only five hits and one run (earned).
Harwell struck out three in 2-1/3 scoreless innings, and Kistler struck out the side in the eighth. CLU loaded the bases in the ninth, but Kistler kept his unblemished 2013 season in place with a ground ball double play to end the threat and the game at 4-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth.
Kistler, TLU's closer, finished his four-year career by not allowing a run (earned or unearned) in 2013. He pitched 29-1/3 innings this season with an ERA of 0.00. The right-hander recorded 14 saves and 33 strikeouts and allowed just 14 hits.
Kistler's scoreless inning streak, which stretched back to April 6, 2012, reached 39 innings. He ends his Bulldog career as the career saves leader in American Southwest Conference and TLU baseball history. He saved 22 games. Kistler's 14 saves in 2013 are a new TLU single-season record.
TLU hitters Klaus Bohrmann, Hill and Zach Jacobs each had two hits Thursday. Jennings Boothe, Christian DeBlanc, and Kanas each scored runs.
Kanas stole his 10th base of the year and finished the year without a caught stealing.
In Friday’s tournament opener, Linfield ace Chris Haddeland tossed a two-hit shutout
in the top-ranked Wildcats' 2-0 win over Texas Lutheran.
Haddeland, a sophomore right-hander, moved his pitching mark to 12-1 with nine innings of dominant work against the Bulldogs. Haddeland allowed only a double and a single, struck out nine and did not walk a batter.
"There's a reason that guy is going to be a First Team All-American," TLU Burnett said of Haddeland. "He was tough today, and to be honest with you, we haven't seen a pitcher like that all year. He's the best we have seen.”
TLU starter Jeff Spillane matched Haddeland after the third inning. The senior right-hander tossed six innings of shutout baseball after giving up a run in the first and a run in the second.
"Linfield's a great team," said Spillane. "Obviously, they are the top team in the country, and you know going up against them that it is not going to be completely smooth sailing. Not saying that you expect to give up a run, but when you do, you just shake it off and come right back at it the next inning."
Spillane (9-3) struck out five, walked three and scattered seven hits.
"Jeff was outstanding," said Burnett. "I think he got a little nervous early, and he was behind in the count. And they took advantage of some things. They got a soft double that fell in for a run, but after that second inning (Jeff) was nails. He gave us exactly what we needed. He pitched like a senior, and he pitched like our ace."
Jake Wylie hit an RBI single in the first inning, and Jordan Harlow doubled a run home in the second.
Tyler Carollo notched a double for TLU, and Mason Briscoe had the other Bulldog hit.
The Bulldogs lose six seniors - Kistler, Boothe, Jeff Spillane, Nick Jones, Jason Yarnell and Kyle Hilsberg - off this year's squad. TLU won the ASC West Division title with a 16-2 division mark and advanced to the NCAA DIII post-season for the fourth time in school history.