Lehman's Tre Abeita slides to home ahead of Hays catcher Justin Heath in the Rebels' 13-10 comeback win on Senior Night Friday. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
By JASON GORDON
On Senior Night where moms received flowers and shed tears, the Hays baseball team’s dreams of a district championship nearly sunk faster than the Titanic.
The iceberg that almost dealt the Rebel ship a fatal strike Friday night came from an unlikely source, the Lehman Lobos, whom Hays pounded 30-10 earlier in the month.
A 13-10 comeback victory over Lehman, and Hays’ subsequent 5-3 win at Manor in the regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon gave the Rebs a co-District 17-4A championship with San Marcos High.
After some discussion about a one-game playoff between the Rebels and Rattlers to determine the district’s top playoff seed, Hays head coach Doug Ragsdale and San Marcos head coach Bryan Webb decided to meet at Dairy Queen Saturday morning to flip a coin. Webb won the toss, and the Rattlers will enter the postseason at 17-4A’s top seed.
Hays will play Montgomery in a best-of-three series in the first round, with game one taking place Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Rebel Field. Game two will be Friday starting at 6 p.m. in Montgomery, and game three, if needed, will be played immediately following game two.
All was not lost for Lehman, as the Lobos were still able to clinch their first-ever playoff berth with a 10-4 thumping of Lockhart Saturday afternoon.
The Lobos will play Brenham in a best-of-three series in the first round beginning Thursday with a 7 p.m. start at Texas State University in San Marcos. Game two will take place Friday at Blinn College, beginning at 7 p.m. Game three, if needed, will also be at Blinn, on Saturday starting at 3 p.m.
Hays (20-6, 11-1 17-4A) came out flat against Lehman Friday night, after Justin Heath’s two-run homer to deep center in the bottom of the first gave Hays a 2-0 lead, Lehman came storming back.
Nick Cerda’s home run over the left-field fence tied it 3-3 in the top of the third, and the Lobos continued to surge in the top of the fourth, as Max Soliz and Joey Hernandez had back-to-back doubles to help chase Hays starting pitcher Sam Breyfogle and spark a four-run rally. Tre Abeita and JP Flores added RBI singles, and Lehman led 7-3.
“I still knew there was a long way to go,” Lehman head coach Toby Robinson said. “Hays is a very good team and I definitely didn’t think we had it won.”
Robinson’s words were prophetic, as the Rebels finally got their act together in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring seven runs, finally solving Lehman starter Michael Andrade.
Breyfogle made up for the fact he wasn’t as sharp as usual on the mound with a perfectly-placed shot down the right-field line with the bases loaded. The tall senior rumbled around the base pads and ended up with a three-run triple that tied the score 7-7.
“That hit got us right back into it,” said Hays senior Shane Kelley. “Everybody got going after that.”
Kelley and Matt Casas added RBI-singles, and Lehman allowed another run to come home after an error, and Hays led 10-7.
“I was honestly pretty embarrassed losing at home 7-3 on senior night,” said Hays centerfielder Trace Gandy. “A loss would have been pretty devastating, not only because it would have cost us the district championship, but also because it was Lehman. We never want to lose to them.”
Hays had to overcome a 3-0 deficit at Manor Saturday, but Kelley’s 10 strikeouts and Gandy’s two RBIs helped clinch the co-district title.
Gandy said Hays is confident heading into the playoffs. The Rebels have won nine straight games since a loss to Seguin in a non-district game on March 26.
“I’m honestly not sure if we would have been able to win a game like Friday night against Lehman earlier in the year after we fell behind,” Gandy said. “But our team has come together at the right time. I think there’s a very good chance we’re going to go on a good run in the playoffs.”
