Matt Casas and the Hays baseball team won three of four games at the San Marcos Tournament. They will next play in the Judson Tournament this weekend. (Photo by Joel San Miguel)
by JASON GORDON
The Hays High baseball team shot out of the gates fast by winning three of four games over the weekend at the San Marcos Tournament.
Hays started the tournament with a 6-1 win over Hendrickson keyed by a stellar pitching performance by Miguel Valdez.
Valdez threw a complete game, tossing six innings of four-hit baseball while striking out two batters.
At the plate, Masen Gully went 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI, and Matt Casas had a single and scored two runs.
Next against Keller, Hays again cruised to an easy 6-2 win.
Stefen Navarro went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI against Keller, and Nick Cavazos was 2-for-3.
On the mound, Charles Johnson picked up the win after he came into the game in relief in the early innings. He threw four innings, allowing four hits and no earned runs.
Hays then knocked off Plainview 5-1, as Cavazos went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and Granger Studdard bunted a runner in for an RBI and added a sacrifice fly RBI.
Rueben Miller threw six innings to earn the pitching victory, striking out five and allowing no earned runs.
“It was great to get a few wins early and to see the kids compete like they did,” Hays head coach Doug Ragsdale said. “In these early games we want to see our lineup gel and we want to see which pitchers are going to be able to throw strikes. We had several solid pitching performances, which is always nice to see.”
The Rebels hit a wall in the fourth game they played in the tournament Saturday evening against former district rival San Marcos in a 9-4 loss.
“San Marcos just did a good job against us that night,” Ragsdale said. “We left the bases loaded a couple of times early and they took advantage of all of their scoring chances. When we did hit the ball hard, it was right at them, but that’s baseball.”
Ragsdale said the team’s first tournament was a good stepping-stone.
“I’m pleased but this is just one tournament,” Ragsdale said. “We have to continue to grow over the next couple of weeks.”
Hays is scheduled to play Canyon Lake High at Concordia University in Austin this week. The Rebels will begin play in the Judson Tournament on Thursday before hosting Lehman in their home and district opener next Tuesday night.
