(San Antonio) – Navarro shrugged off its first loss since the middle of March, a 3-0 setback to Canyon Lake in Game 1 of the 4A Region IV quarterfinals on Thursday, to grind out a 5-2 win on Friday and a 3-2 squeaker on Saturday for a 2-1 series win and a berth in the fourth round of the UIL baseball playoffs.
The Panthers took the last lead they would need in the series on Mark Wozniak’s two-run double with two outs in the third inning of Game 3, and the pitching tandem of Will Boswell and Bryce Nall kept the door shut on Canyon Lake the rest of the way.
The players, coaches, and fans of both teams had to wait more than three hours past Saturday’s originally schedule first pitch of 4:30 at San Antonio’s North East Sports Park before the game finally started at 7:45 due to multiple weather delays affecting the preceding game between Smithson Valley and San Antonio-Reagan and the warmup before the Navarro-Canyon Lake game.
“We had a talk in between five of the rain delays before our game, and during our game, and I told them ‘guys, it’s going to be like this all night long’, and the team that can handle themselves, and be composed, and stay focused throughout the game and through the day is going to come out on top, and it’s going to be a dogfight, just like this whole series has been the whole time” Navarro head coach Kris Cavazos said. “Man, I’m so proud of them. They’re a young group, but they play like a bunch of seniors.”
Navarro only managed one hit, a double in the fifth inning by Aden Supak, in Thursday’s 3-0 loss. The setback snapped an 18-game winning streak and put the season on the line due the efforts of Canyon Lake right-hander Tyler Pauley, who struck out eight and worked around five walks to hand the Panthers their only shutout of the season.
Canyon Lake scored all three of its runs, two unearned, in the first inning. Hunter Monroe relieved starter Bryce Nall two outs into the third and kept the Hawks scoreless the rest of the way.
The Panthers returned the favor and snapped Canyon Lake’s 13-game winning streak to tie up the series with the 5-2 win on Friday.
Navarro scored its first run of the series in Game 2 when Sam Muniga singled and eventually came home on a double play hit into by Mark Wozniak in the first inning. Marco Moncada put down a squeeze bunt for an RBI single to drive in Tristan Brashears’ courtesy runner Case Monroe in the third, and the Panthers were up 2-0.
Canyon Lake broke up the shutout in the top of the fourth with a James LaLonde RBI single. The Hawks tied it up on a play that Navarro disputed in the top of the sixth. Tanner Schultz belted a line drive Reece Rojas in right field for the second out. The runner at first, Matthew McClain, had left without tagging up. Chase Anderson hustled home from third, and the umpire ruled that he crossed the plate before the throw from Rojas found Wozniak, who tagged McClain for the final out.
Navarro used the emotion from that play as fuel to refocus in the bottom of the sixth and take the lead for good. Supak and Muniga hit consecutive singles. Rojas smoked a gap double to left field to drive in both for the go-ahead runs. Wozniak singled in Rojas for the final run.
Monroe came on in a closer role and overcame two walks to keep Canyon Lake scoreless in the top of the seventh. Jaxen Monkerud earned the win and moved his season record to 12-0, allowing two runs on four hits with nine strikeouts and six walks in six innings.
Muniga and Rojas started Game 3 with back-to-back singles on Saturday, and Muniga eventuall came home on a balk to put the Panthers in front 2-0. Canyon Lake scratched out runs with RBI singles from LaLonde in the second and Griffen Williams in the third to take a 2-1 lead.
With two outs and the bases empty, Rojas and Tristan Brashears were patient enough to draw consecutive walks in the bottom of the third. Moncada courtesy ran for Brashears, and Wozniak made Canyon Lake starter Hunter Anderson pay for those walks with the double that turned the momentum for good.
“Mark, he’s been huge for us all year long, and those guys ahead of him,” Cavazos said. “We tried to get that kid’s pitch count up. We know he hasn’t thrown in a long time, because their one and two have taken care of business, so we wanted to get him deep into the game, and we knew he’d walk a couple. We knew they were going to throw Mark curve ball, curve ball, curve ball, and we told him to to sit on it, and he crushed it, and it was a big hit. Probably the biggest hit of the weekend besides Rojas.”
Boswell survived a base hit and two hit batters to keep the Hawks scoreless through the sixth and move his season record to 6-0. Nall picked up the save with a scoreless seventh against the top of the Canyon Lake order. He struck out Pauley, induced a groundout from Anderson, gave up a single to Chase Anderson, and coaxed the series ending fly ball from Williams into the glove of Rojas for the final out.
“Will stepped again huge for us, man,” Cavazos said. “He’s just a gamer. It’s good to have him come in Game 3. He plays with his emotion. That’s two weeks in a row that he’s stepped up for us, and that’s huge to have another guy like that who can come in and dominate.”
Navarro (31-4) meets Corpus-Christi Calallen in the 4A Region IV semifinals this week. The series format and details had yet to be finalized at press time.