WHS baseball begins district, plays tourney

Wimberley High School Texan baseball rolled into a busy stretch last Tuesday, March 7 with the district opener at Davenport High School. The game began a week that would conclude with the Texan Classic tournament on Texan Field the afternoon of Saturday, March 11.

The Wolves bring talent and tenacity to the field with a few players possessing the ability to turn a game around. The Texans went into the Davenport den with strong pitching and bats beginning to awaken which was reflected in the 4-0 final score.

“When our offense is alive, it’s really alive and we can score easily. It never really came alive in that game. But I was proud of the kids for taking a stand and putting the ball in play to put pressure on their defense,” said head coach Stephen Wisdom. “The kids got aggressive on the bases and took over. Our pitching in that game was more controlled. They were hitting the ball, but we were playing defense behind it.”

“I think we have the potential to be a really good hitting team top to bottom,” he added. “I think we can scatter them around and put pressure on people like we have in some of our tournament games.”

The Texan Classic saw the always-tough Stephenville High school Yellowjackets, the fourth-ranked Godley High School Wildcats and the Knights from Cibolo Steele High School ride into Wimberley for the Thursday through Saturday event. Each team played five games with the Texans facing Godley on Friday for their lone meeting.

The tournament kicked off with Texans poking the nest with Stephenville Thursday afternoon. The hometown boys matched the first inning output by the Yellowjackets — including a two run blast by Lane Patek — but found themselves scrambling through the rest of the game. Texan pitching depth was tested as Stephenville found an answer for almost everything Coach Wisdom’s team could throw at them. The lack of output offensively dashed any hope the team possessed to creep back into the game. The final score was 10-2.

Wisdom considered the first game of the tournament and what it meant for his team.

“We kind of got shellshocked when they came out and started popping the baseball all over the place,” he explained. “They’re a good hitting team, and we couldn’t really get much going after we matched them in the first. We’ve played a lot of games lately so we’re struggling a little bit more with command than we were earlier in the season.”

The Godley matchup took place Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. after the Texans had dispatched the Steele Knights earlier in the morning. The Wildcats put runs up in the first three innings to lead by as much as four runs. The Texans clawed back into the game an inning at a time.

Going into the top of the sixth, the Texans had drawn to within three runs but gave up one more before closing down the Wildcat offense with bases loaded. The Texans went to work in an effort to tie or take the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, putting up three runs before their third out, and closing the score in a 9-8 loss.

“The game was obviously disappointing because we took the loss but we dug ourselves such a big hole. Our kids kept playing hard and stayed in it. They didn’t quit and took it right up to the last out,” said Coach Wisdom. “I’m not sure if our kids even know about them and their ranking. It was definitely a good showing for us and just as good to see them go out and keep fighting.”

The Texans again faced Steele Saturday at lunchtime with Ty Thames on the mound to start the game and Wyatt Franchione coming on in relief to pick up the win.The finale for the Texans took place versus Stephenville. Coach Swenson’s Yellowjackets beat the Texans in the first game and had split their two meetings with Godley.

Big Ryan Slade took the bump for Wimberley against Janis Clemmer and the Jackets. Slade pitched well — working himself out of multiple jams with his pitch placement and hard trows — while closing at least two innings with strikeouts. In the meantime, the Texan offense found ways to push base runners around the diamond and across the plate. Pinch hitter Brady Barbee had timely hits and Bryce Young added to the Texan advantage with his hitting and relief pitching after starting on the mound earlier in the tournament.

The Texans closed out with a win against Stephenville, finishing the Classic with a 3-2 record. The Texans play two district games during the week of Spring Break. They traveled to Bandera High School the afternoon of Tuesday, March 14 and will be home on Thursday, March 16 at 6 p.m. to host Fredericksburg High School.