Nick Cerda and the Lehman baseball team didn’t have the season they were hoping for, as the Lobos missed the playoffs for the first time since 2009. The team is already looking forward to the prospects of a solid campaign in 2013. (photo by Judy Cooper)
By WES FERGUSON
Nick Cerda celebrated the end of his record-setting, four-year Lehman baseball career with a pair of doubles in a 12-6 win over Lockhart on Friday. The victory was a bittersweet season finale for a team that had expected to compete for a District 27-4A championship but instead failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in three years.
“It was nice for us to finish the season with a win after we didn’t accomplish the goals we set out to get,” head coach Toby Robinson said. “It’s something for us to build on next year.”
The Lobos put up six runs in the third inning Friday in Lockhart, then held off a four-run seventh inning by the Lions to close out the season with a 12-13 overall record and a 5-7 mark in 27-4A.
Senior pitcher Justin Vajgert struck out five batters while allowing no hits in three innings on the mound to earn the win in his final game as a Lobo. Fellow senior Rudy Martinez batted 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
Lehman had already been eliminated from playoff contention after a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to eventual district champion Clemens on April 20, despite two hits apiece by Vagjert and Hunter Lehman, who both doubled in the game.
Despite the disappointing end to the season, Robinson said his team made strides that will carry over to next season, with returners including Hunter Lehman, Justin Penney and Jacob Urea.
“This year our biggest thing was working on pitching and defense, and I think we did a real good job pitching-wise. Defense was up and down, and hitting was up and down,” Robinson said. “We were producing runs any way we could, whether it was having to bunt the ball, hit and run, whatever we had to do to get the job done. I think our kids learned a lot more this year than they ever have hitting-wise. It was just a little too late.”
Cerda had entered the season with outsized expectations after being named Lehman’s first all-state athlete in any sport in 2011, hitting .449 with 10 homers and 47 runs batted in as a junior. His numbers came back down to earth in 2012, however, with opposing teams pitching around him in the middle of the lineup.
“I thought I could have done a lot better this year,” said Cerda, who batted .354 with one homer, 14 doubles and 14 RBIs in his senior campaign. “It was all in my head. I was just thinking a little too much. I had a big role, and I don’t think I stepped into it right.”
Hunter Lehman, who should enter the next season as the Lobos’ pitching ace, said he and his returning teammates would put in the hours over the summer to come back mentally tougher and perform to their ability.
“We’re positive for next year. It’s baseball, so you never know what could happen,” he said. “We obviously expected to do a lot better this year, but I think everybody here expects us to be better next year, and everybody’s working hard. There are no weak links in our team. Next year is going to be exciting.”
