By Moses Leos III
Torrential production from the Kerrville Tivy Antlers brought the Lehman Lobos’ playoff hopes to an end.
A total of 13 hits allowed by Lehman pitching doomed the Lobos in a 6-2 loss Monday in a one-game playoff at Schertz Clemens High School. Lehman’s 2014 season concludes one game shy of the postseason.
“[Tivy] is a good hitting team. They battled and they are hard to get out,” Leh-man head coach Toby Robinson said. “They have a lot of good tools over there.”
The Antlers wasted no time in tagging Lehman senior starting pitcher Justin Penney. After junior Larry Leiha singled, senior Brett Hill launched a two run home run to right field two batters later. Tivy held a 1-0 lead after half an inning.
Lehman countered by manufacturing a run in the bottom half. Sophomore Luis Jimenez reached first base on a single, and was moved to second via a sacrifice bunt by senior Trace Gonzales. Two batters later, Derek Cisneros ripped a two-out double to left, scoring Jimenez to cut Tivy’s lead to 2-1.
However, Tivy’s offense continued to harry Penney and the Lobos in the second. Tivy plated two more runs in the top of the second, placing Lehman in a 4-1 deficit.
Penney, who went 4.1 innings with two strikeouts, credited Tivy’s aggressiveness at the plate. He felt pitches he threw up in zone contributed to his struggles.
“My change-up and slider weren’t working well,” Penney said. “When you pipe fastballs down the middle, it gets easy after the first time around.”
Offense for the Lobos was equally a challenge. Tivy pitcher Payeton Becker kept Lobo bats in check, limiting Lehman to only six hits on the night, while only having three strikeouts.
“Becker is a good pitcher. He stays in the zone and challenges [batters],” Robinson said. “He’s not afraid to throw any pitch in any count.”
Despite the struggle, Lehman tallied a run in third. With two-outs, senior Mark Garcia and Cisneros notched back-to-back singles. Junior Ez Jimenez drove in an RBI by forcing an error at third base, scoring Garcia.
Lehman cut Tivy’s lead in half at 4-2. It was the closest the Lobos got to the Antlers.
The AntlerS’ persistence on offense led to another run in the fifth; the score forced Robinson to go to Garcia in relief. Tivy eventually got to Garcia as well, forcing a run off three hits in 0.2 innings.
Trailing 6-2 in the fifth, Lehman’s offense began to press, swinging for the fences. Penney said the team’s inability to hit ground balls hurt production.
As the Lobos’ season closes one win shy of a playoff berth, Robinson lauded the play of his senior class.
“I think everyone gave us something this year,” he said.
