by MARK CAUL
JP Flores fires a pitch during Lehman’s game one loss against Brenham. The Cubs went on to sweep the Lobos after an 11-1 win Friday. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
Making their first baseball playoff appearance in school history, the Lehman Lobos were issued the tall task of having to take down the Brenham Cubs, the state’s fifth-ranked team.
The Lobos came out of the first inning unscathed as sophomore shortstop Nick Cerda ignited an inning-ending double play to bring the raucous Lehman crowd to their feet early.
But that’s as good as it got for Lehman.
Brenham’s Erich Weiss clubbed three home runs and the Cubs got outstanding pitching efforts from both Chase Wellbrock and Ty Schottman to sweep the Lobos 2-0 and advance to the second round against Crosby High School.
Base-running miscues and defensive blunders proved to be the downfall for the Lobos in their first playoff series.
“We never gave up but they took advantage of some mistakes we made,” Lehman head coach Toby Robinson said. “Anytime you give a great team like Brenham extra outs, they will make you pay.”
Brenham (28-4), the District 18 4-A champion, took control of the opener in the third inning with a seven-run outburst keyed by back-to-back doubles by Drake Roberts and Chance Bolcerek.
From there, Jarred Moehlmann tripled to the deepest part of the center field wall to drive in Roberts and Bolcerek to give the Cubs a commanding 5-0 advantage.
Before the inning was over, the Cubs sent 12 batters to the plate against the shell-shocked Lobos.
Wellbrock (10-2) allowed only two hits and struck out six in the opener for the Cubs.
“Our guys came out and tried to set the tone early,” Brenham head coach Jim Long said. “Chase had command of his pitches and did a good job of focusing on each batter.”
Brenham also dominated the second game of the series as Schottmann kept the Lobo hitters off balance in the Cubs 11-1 triumph to close out the series in two games.
The Cubs battered Lehman starter Michael Andrade for five quick runs as Weiss once again belted a two-run shot to deep left field to give Brenham an early 2-0 lead.
Soon after, Bolcerek and third baseman Scott Weinschenk got into the act by crushing home runs to end Andrade’s night prematurely as the Cubs coasted to a 5-0 lead that they never relinquished.
“You never want to give a team that has nothing to lose a chance to gain momentum and our kids came out ready to play from the very beginning,” Long said. “Toby (Robinson) has done an excellent job with that program and I’m sure they’ll learn from this experience and bounce back next year.”
Flores led Lehman offensively with two hits and will be one of the seniors who will be departing along with Ornelas and Abeita.
“I’m not happy about the way we went out but I’m glad that we were able to accomplish a goal we had since we were freshmen,” Flores said. “Everybody will remember us as the group who finally got it done.”
Although they will be losing three cornerstones of the program, the Lobos look to return a few key components in sophomores Cerda, Max Solis, Andrade and freshman catcher Joey Hernandez.
“We’re losing a great group of guys that helped get this program to where it is but we have a good core of young guys coming back that have to step up and become leaders next season,” Robinson said. “We took a big step forward this season and I hope we can build on this experience.”
