Lehman senior center fielder Joey Hernandez was an All-District performer and leader for the Lobo baseball team, which swept two games from Hays this season and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
Here are our top three stories of 2010-11 in what was at times a very exciting school year at Lehman High:
1. Lehman baseball team sweeps Hays
It wasn’t enough for Lehman to end a five-year losing streak to Hays back in March, the Lobos repeated the feat in early April. The Lobos did it in dramatic fashion in March, scoring three runs in the top of the seventh for a 5-3 comeback win at Rebel Field in the District 27-4A opener for both teams.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Lehman shortstop Nick Cerda. “I’ve wanted to beat Hays ever since my freshman year.”
Hays High appeared to have the upper hand when it took a 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning on Nick Cavazos’ double off the wall in deep right field that plated Victor Rubio.
Although Hays was three outs away from another victory over Lehman, it was apparent the Lobos weren’t going to quit.
“Even when we were losing, I knew we had the fight in us to come back,” Cerda said. “I could see it in everyone’s eyes in the dugout.”
Three of the first four Lehman batters, Braxton Rico, Xavier Soliz and Rudy Martinez, singled in the top of the seventh inning to load the bases with one out.
Cerda drew a walk that brought Rico home to tie the score 3-3, and Justin Vajgert’s sharp grounder for a single scored Soliz to give Lehman the lead 4-3.
Chris Tello’s RBI-groundout to shortstop allowed Martinez to score an insurance run for the Lobos.
When the Lobos repeated the feat at Lehman in April, they acted like they had been there before. Lehman rallied for an 8-6 victory at Lobo Field that put the team right back in the thick of the playoff race, and virtually ended Hays’ chance of a fifth straight district title.
“We expect nothing less now,” said Cerda, who shut down Hays late in the game with three solid innings of pitching. “We’re starting a tradition.
The Lobos went on to earn their second straight playoff berth, before losing to talented Boerne Champion in the first round.
2. Lehman’s Torres battles back from injury to narrowly miss trip to state
Lehman’s track and field squad took a hit right out of the blocks at the regional meet in San Antonio, as team leader Justin Torres hit the second hurdle in the 300-meter hurdle event and injured his hamstring. Torres finished the race in 40.57 seconds, about a second off his normal time, and still qualified for the finals.
Torres came back with a surge on Tuesday, finishing third in the 300-hurdles in a time of 39.73 seconds. Only the top two finishers moved in to the UIL State Track and Field Meet in Austin, leaving Torres as the alternate for the squad in the event.
“He’s always been a kid that never gives up,” Lehman head track coach Michael Laney said. “To come back from an injury that we thought would keep him out to end up as the state alternate was pretty impressive.”
Torres, who plans to walk on to the track team at the University of Texas-San Antonio, will certainly be missed at Lehman.
“He was the heart and soul of our team the last three years,” Laney said. “He had the best work ethic of anyone we ever had on the team. He taught others that same work ethic. He was never going to lose a race because someone out-worked him.”
3. Lehman tennis trio nearly reaches state tournament
Lehman had looked like it would have at least one representative at the UIL tennis meet yet again.
Junior Adolfo Gonzalez, who advanced to the state boys singles final as a freshman, came a up match short in his bid for a repeat trip to the state tournament as a muscle cramping issue slowed his progress in the regional final loss to Lake Travis’s top-seeded Dustin Archer 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Unfortunately, the lingering pain was so severe that Gonzalez was forced to retire in the second place playback match later on in the day against Alamo Heights’ Russell Naumann, whom he had beaten just a week before for the District 27-4A title.
The fact Gonzalez wasn’t able to continue in the playback match meant Archer and Naumann received the bids to the UIL Class 4A State Tournament in Austin.
The playback rule comes into effect if a player reaches the semifinals and loses to the top seed in the tournament. Since Naumann lost to top-seeded Archer and Gonzalez didn’t have to play Archer en route to the finals, Naumann was able to request a playback match against Gonzalez for the right for the final singles spot at the state tourney.
“Adolfo played a beautiful match but just couldn’t overcome the pain,” Lehman head tennis coach Orlando DeLaFuente said. “He battled as hard as he could considering he wasn’t really at full strength. It was extremely disappointing.”
Gonzalez defeated Charles Horseman of Gregory-Portland 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals and then breezed past Sean Spiesman of Austin LBJ in the semifinals.
Gonzalez believes his second consecutive loss in the regional finals will motivate him for one final run next spring.
“Honestly, I think I was on the top of my game and I think right now I am definitely above the level that I was as a freshman when I went to the state final,” said Gonzalez.
Meanwhile, the outstanding mixed-doubles duo of John Martin and Desiree Kittel also fell short in their bid for state tournament appearance as they lost in their second place playback game to a duo from Lake Travis 6-3, 6-2.
Martin reached the state quarterfinals last spring with Desiree’s older sister Penelope where they lost in three games.
“The fact that we had three medalists in such a strong region is something we can all be proud of,” said DeLaFuente. “What really stands out is how our student athletes represented our school and community. They competed with compassion and class. All three of these kids left a lasting impression for sure.”
