No-hitter helps Lake Travis baseball team sweep aside SA Clark
DRIPPING SPRINGS — The routine — and the results — looked the same for all four Lake Travis pitchers who took the mound Friday in the second game of a Class 6A playoff series against San Antonio Clark.
Whether the pitcher’s shift ended after almost six innings like starter Jackson Baker or one batter like Hudson Gardner, he traded hugs with coach Mike Rogers and then walked back to more hugs from the Cavaliers in the dugout.
In between all the love, the Cavs’ quartet of pitchers, which also included O.J. Gonzalez and Pierce George, combined for a no-hitter as Lake Travis completed the regional quarterfinal sweep with a 7-0 win at Dripping Springs High School.
More: One big inning spurs Johnson to playoff victory over Cedar Park
“That’s our game — depth, pitching and defense,” veteran Lake Travis coach Mike Rogers said. “And we try and scratch out a run or two. We’ve had a few guys that have pitched really well over the last couple of months, and we got some guys in there (Friday night) that hadn’t had a lot of reps, and they’re stepping up. It makes us deeper.”
The Cavs might need that depth when they face off against San Antonio Reagan in a battle between arguably the top two teams in Region IV. Lake Travis (31-5) entered the third round of the playoffs ranked No. 3 in the latest Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association Poll. No. 5 Reagan (29-5) edged No. 10 Smithson Valley in extra innings to complete its third-round sweep Friday.
But Baker said the showing by the Cavs’ staff against Clark — Lake Travis allowed just one run in the 2-game sweep — bodes well for an upcoming series that could feature plenty of situational substitutions.
“We have trust in everybody we throw out there,” he said. “We can all get it done.”
Baker, a junior, certainly got it done against Clark (23-10) with his array of sinkers that handcuffed the Cougars. He retired the first 10 batters on groundouts and allowed just one base runner through the first three innings.
“If we had had wooden bats, he would have broken six or seven tonight,” Rogers said.
The closest that Clark got to getting a hit off Baker came in the fifth inning, when Josh Vaughn ripped a shot into deep left field. Outfielder Daniel Ripple read the ball off the bat and immediately turned and sprinted toward the wall before making an over-the-shoulder catch that drew cheers from the crowd and a tip of the cap from Baker.
“I was a little scared with that one, but I knew Daniel was out there,” Baker said. “I trust him.”
Baker’s only concern was his walks. After he issued his sixth to load the bags in the sixth, Rogers gave the ball to O.J. Gonzalez — after giving Baker a hug, of course. Working with a 7-0 lead that Lake Travis had held since the end of the third inning, Gonzalez escaped that one-out jam with two strikeouts.
Gonzalez then struck out another batter in the top of the seventh before Gardner and George closed out the no-hitter and the series.
The Cavs’ offense had four of its six hits in the second inning, when Lake Travis scored four times to seize control of the game. Senior shortstop Kaeden Kent had the biggest hit, a double to right field that scored Ripple and Luke Reider. The Cavs took advantage of a wild pitch and a Clark error to score three more runs in the third.
Lake Travis now moves on to face Reagan, whom the Cavs tied 5-5 in tournament play earlier this season. The two teams have won three of the past four Class 6A Region IV titles but have met only once in the playoffs, with Reagan winning a 2018 third-round series.
“I like where we’re at,” Rogers said. “We’ve got some work to do offensively, but it’s the playoffs, and small ball is a part of that.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lake Travis baseball team beats San Antonio Clark in playoffs
