The Wimberley High School baseball team (14-16-1 overall, 6-9 district) headed into their first round playoff game facing former district foe Geronimo Navarro High School (22-7, 8-2) while trying to put a difficult stretch of games behind them.
After winning four straight in district play versus Bandera and Fredericksburg High Schools, the team lost four games in a row against Canyon Lake and Boerne High Schools. The losses were hotly contested with the Wimberley Texan defense limiting their opponents to five runs or less. Unfortunately, the offense was unable to generate more than three runs in any of the games.
The matchup was set as a one-game playoff at Texan Field last Thursday, March 4 with Hayden Oakes taking the mound for the Texans. The first Panther player faced took a 3-1 pitch deep into right-center, splitting the defense to smack the wall hard and earning a triple. He would score on the next at-bat on a sacrifice fly to left field. The Texan defense showed grit though, when they came up with double play with a runner at second base. The ball was hit sharply at second baseman Zach Patek, who made an outstanding catch and then tossed the ball quickly to his brother Lane, covering second for the force out.
The recent offensive woes showed up in the bottom of the inning as the first three Texan batters suffered strikeouts on 13 pitches from Panther pitcher Bryce Nall. Nall would strike out 11, walk one and surrender six hits in a complete game effort.
Navarro would not score in the second, despite getting a base runner to second base. Oakes closed out the top of the inning with a full-count strikeout, giving the Texans a rush of adrenaline going to the bottom of the second. The Texans would leave the inning disappointed with threeup, three-down in the bottom frame.
Wimberley would give up a run in the third and another in the fourth while putting a couple of players on the base path in the third offensively. Entering the bottom of the fourth and trailing 3-0, the Texans needed a rally in order to seize the Panther momentum from building. They got it in the bottom of the fourth, starting with Michael Brister getting on base after swinging at strike three which got away from the Navarro catcher, allowing Brister to get to first base on the dropped third strike. Lance Patek hit a hard grounder through the infield toward center to move Brister to second. Kyler Lai stroked a single to the right, moving both Brister and Patek over to load the bases. After a pop up for the second out, Trent Habbit smoked another single to center scoring both Brister and Patek. With Caden Romo in as a courtesy runner at third base and Habbit at first, Coach Stephen Wisdom sent Habbit toward second on a steal. Nall bit on the attempt, throwing to second and allowing Romo to make a perfectly timed double-steal of home for the tying run. Habbit got caught in a rundown but escaped safely back to first base. He would end up stranded at first, but the Texans clawed their way back into the contest to tie the score 3-3 after four innings.
Finn Mignery came in to relieve Oakes at pitcher in the top of the fifth. The leadoff batter drew a walk, going to second on a sacrifice bunt, then stealing third with one out. Mignery struck out the next batter, but the ball was dropped on the third strike. The batter took off toward first, drawing a throw from Texan catcher Lai for the put out but allowing the runner to score from third base. The Panthers would take the 4-3 lead into the top of the seventh inning before adding two insurance runs to lead 6-3. The Texans would close out the bottom frame as they had the first and second innings — three up, threedown — to end the game and their season.
The loss was difficult for the Texans. Though they were home underdogs, there was a feeling that district play prepared them for the post-season properly. Even with Navarro coming in as a district champion, the recent play against Canyon Lake and Boerne gave the team hope to advance beyond the first round.
The Texans outhit the Panthers six hits to four but gave up seven walks and committed eight errors.
Wisdom was frank in his assessment of the loss.
“Most people will probably talk about the errors, but if you don’t hit the ball, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “We haven’t hit the ball in the last few weeks, but if you don’t put the runs across, you can’t win.”
“He’s a good pitcher and I’ll give him credit for what he did, but we didn’t counter, we didn’t come back fighting and didn’t do the two strike approach,” shared Wisdom. “What I was proud of was that we went through two weeks of giving up double-digit runs and playing poor baseball, but they came out of it, not just for a game or two, but for the rest of the season. They played some good teams and kept them close. They ought to be able to take something from that to feel good about.”
Lai had a solid game after struggling at points during the season. Pitchers who weren’t on the varsity roster when the season began moved up from junior varsity to make a difference. Even in a difficult personal stretch, leadership potential was displayed from the bench. Wisdom said he feels good about the direction of the team and the building blocks for next spring.
“I thought Lai stepped it up,” he explained. “He had some really good throws and a big hit putting the ball into play to right field to load the bases in the fourth. I thought it was a good effort and came at a clutch moment. Oakes, Mignery and Martinez were JV pitchers for a while so we could get them on the bump and throw. It paid off because when we needed them, they came in and they did what needed to be done.”
“I gotta give credit to (Owen) O’Neal,” Wisdom added. “For a 16 or 17 year old kid, the night he had was tough. When I pulled him out, I just put my arm around him and told him it’s something I had to do. But that kid showed character: not only did he come out, he went over to the dugout and took a role of cheering guys on. That shows a little of the leadership that some kids have developed this year, and I’m hoping we can build on that.”
For his part, Lai was disappointed but was matter-of-fact regarding the team and how things have gone.
“We’ve seen a lot of change,” he said. “I know we’ve learned that we don’t want to let each other down. That’s what I wanted for tonight. Get behind these guys, play hard and support each other. We’ve got a good foundation to build on for next year.”
The Texans wrap up the season 15-16-1 overall. Seven seniors graduate in the next few weeks, leaving a team loaded with juniors and years of experience playing together. Coach Wisdom and his staff will look to this group for emerging leadership and young men ready to exemplify the hallmarks of unity and teamwork next spring.
