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Baseball season comes to an end in playoffs

Sometimes the game of baseball can be funny. Sometimes it can be cruel. Over two games that typically would stretch across 14 total innings, the Wimberley Texan pitchers didn’t allow a run to score in 12 of them straight.

Still, the two games amounted to losses that end a surprising and strong season for the Wimberley Texan baseball team.

Due to the persistent rains, Fulshear came to Wimberley for the first two games of a three game series for the Area Championship and jumped out to an early lead.

“I don’t know if we were nervous or what.” Head coach Stephen Wisdom said. “I guess we weren’t ready to go. It was a mixture of everything: walks, hits and errors. It wasn’t any one thing.”

Fulshear scored five runs in the top of the first inning. Because of the quick success, they pulled their star left-handed pitcher Dylan Theut to save him for game two. Instead of giving up the game, Wimberley did what they have done all season and scrapped together a couple of runs.

“I thought that we would fight back, one run at a time, and win it,” Wisdom said. “We almost did.”

With runs in the bottom of the first, third and fifth innings, Wimberley made the game close. On the mound, Jake Donley settled in. After the five runs scored in the first inning, he wouldn’t let another one cross the plate.

“He came out with some anger in his eyes and he shut them down,” Wisdom said. “I was proud of him for that.”

Donley would finish off the complete game throwing a shutout for the final six innings, but the Texans lost 5-3. Game two would start just 30 minutes later.

This time, Theut would stay on the mound to face the Texans. Senior Caleb Cervenka was down two quick strikes in the first at bat of the ball game before hitting a line drive up the middle to show that Wimberley was scared of the hard-throwing lefty. He would eventually come around to score the first run of the ball game.

Zach Britton showed his moxie as well on the mound. He picked up right where Donley had left off just a few minutes prior and began shutting out Fulshear.

“It seemed just like the Salado game last week,” Wisdom said. “Anytime they got guys in a position to score, he reached down and got a little bit more and found a way out of the inning.”

Britton went a full six innings nursing Wimberley’s one run lead. In the bottom of the seventh inning, he was back on the mound. Theut, who had only allowed one run while pitching for Fulshear, must have been frustrated with the lacking offensive performance of his team and hit a deep fly ball to the outfield scoring the tying run.

It was the first run Fulshear had scored since the first inning of the game prior.

The game headed for extra innings. Wimberley was unable to muster a run before Fulshear scored in the bottom of the eighth inning to end the game and the Texans season.

“We started the season looking for an identity, and these guys stepped up,” Wisdom said. “What was neat about it was it wasn’t the same nine that started the season. Kids were always fighting for a spot and always working hard. We had more than nine kids contribute throughout the year... They decided they were going to create their own good team and not wait for somebody else to do it. Whether it was a bunt or scoring off a ball in the dirt. They were always fighting.”

The Texans end the season 18-11-1 was Co-District Champions and Bi-District Champions. It was the first year for Wisdom to be the head coach in Wimberley.

“I had more support here than I have ever had,” Wisdom said. “I’ve coached a few places, and I’ve never had the support from parents, the administration and other coaches like I’ve had here. It was pretty neat.”

Wimberley View

P.O. Box 49
Wimberley, TX 78676
Phone: 512-847-2202
Fax: 512-847-9054