The Hays baseball team picked up a 7-5 victory over Smithson Valley Friday night that keeps the Rebs in the playoff hunt. Hays will host rival Lehman Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
The Hays boys baseball team got an unexpected victory when the Rebels needed it most.
The Rebs handed Smithson Valley only its second loss of the District 27-4A season with a 7-5 win at Hays Friday night.
The Rebels picked up only their second district win of the season, and improved to 2-4 in 27-4A.
Hays kept its playoff hopes alive heading into the second half of district play, which begins with a key matchup Tuesday against rival Lehman at Rebel Field.
Friday night against Smithson Valley, the Rangers scored three runs in the top of the first inning but Hays answered with four runs of its own in the bottom of the first.
Trevor Ragsdale started things off with an RBI-triple to left-center field that scored Alex Robles and Aaron Martinets. Andrew Laughlin followed with an RBI-single to center to score Ragsdale, and Antonio Oliva ended the scoring onslaught for the Rebs with an RBI-single that plated Dalton Niles
The game was tied 5-5 headed to the bottom of the sixth inning but the Rebs broke the tie for good with two key runs.
Adrian Acosta scored on a Martinets ground out, and Robles scored on a deep fly ball off the left-field wall by Niles.
Sophomore Tyler Woodmansee went the distance on the mound for the Rebs, giving up six hits and only two earned runs to pick up the win.
Tuesday night’s game between Hays and Lehman at Rebel Field is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Lehman, which had never beaten Hays in baseball prior to 2011, has now beaten the Rebs three straight times, including a 5-4 win in 10 innings earlier this season.
