SAN ANTONIO – In a year where Boerne ISD athletic squads have made a lot of school history, that trend continued last Saturday after the Champion baseball team clinched its first-ever berth to the state baseball tournament.
Champion had been to the regional championship round twice before and was eliminated from the playoffs at that point of the season, but the third time proved to be the charm after they defeated Leander Rouse in their third regional championship appearance.
The Chargers dropped their first game to Rouse in Austin on Thursday, 9-3, but won the next two at Wolff Stadium on Friday and Saturday, 6-5, and 9-4, to advance to state.
Champion (33-11-1) plays Argyle (34-10-2) in the state semifinals Thursday at 7 p.m. at Dell Diamond. The winner of that game plays the winner of Magnolia West and Frisco Reedy for the title. The 5A championship game is Saturday at Dell Diamond, at noon.
Chargers coach Ben Woodchick said nobody but him, his coaches and players thought this was possible.
“I don’t think a single person in the state of Texas would have put us there preseason, so that’s what makes it a little more sweet for those guys,” he said. “For them to put themselves in the state tournament, it shows their character and heart.”
In the decisive Game 3, after Rouse had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth, the Chargers loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning and then Grant Kinzel came through with the biggest hit of the season so far after he cleared the bases with a double to right-center.
Kinzel’s hit brought in all three runs and gave Champion a 6-4 advantage. They never trailed from there thanks to the hit. Immediately after the game, Kinzel still had a hard time believing what had happened.
“I really couldn’t believe what I did, it was crazy,” he said. “It’s really cool, I still can’t believe we’re going to state, it’s a dream really.”
Game 3
Champion pitcher Rowdy Miller wasn’t sure if he was even going to throw because of a nagging shoulder but ended up being the Game 3 starter and went 4.1 innings and put them in a good spot before he left.
Aidan Smith replaced Miller in the fifth and closed it out as the Chargers used two pitchers in the game, while Rouse was trying to stop the bleeding and went through seven different hurlers.
“Rowdy stuck his neck out there for us, he wanted the ball and got the ball and got the job done,” Woodchick said.
Miller said he just wanted to put his team in a position where getting to state was at least a possibility.
“I just knew I had to go out there and give our team a chance to win,” he said. “I’ve been dealing with shoulder trouble and this will probably be my last game of the season. It’s great to be here and give our team a shot and make some school history. I’m so proud of these guys, they played so well behind me.”
Of the seven pitchers that Rouse used, five of them entered the game in the fifth and sixth innings as they tried to stop the Champion momentum but didn’t have much luck.
With a 6-4 lead after the Kinzel hit, the Chargers added a few more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth and went with a little small ball to inflict the damage. A couple of bunts and a slow roller, along with a Jordan Ballin double, helped Champion scored 3 runs and open up a 9-4 lead.
“When you have a lead, you can be more aggressive and we needed every run,” Woodchick said. “We tried to stay away from the home run to beat you. Those were huge at bats for us.”
After entering in the fifth, Smith went the final 2.2 innings on the bump and gave up 2 hits, no runs, no walks and had 1 strike out. Miller yielded 5 hits, 3 earned runs, fanned 1 and walked 4 during his time on the mound.
Miller said Smith and the rest of the defense did a great job closing it out.
“I’m just so proud of them, they played a great game behind me. I’m a starter and my role is to go as far as I can and let them finish it out and that’s what I’ve been doing,” he said. “Smith came in and threw a heck of a game and look at us now, we’re going to state.”
Game 2
Both team scored in bunches during Friday’s Game 2 at Wolff Stadium. After Rouse took a 1-0 lead in the first, Champion answered with 5 runs in the bottom of the second and the Chargers scored all 5 of its runs with two outs.
Champion took advantage of 3 Rouse errors, 2 singles and walk, but the 5-1 lead didn’t hold very long after Rouse tied it up with 4 runs in the top of the third and did so without a single hit.
The Leander school used 7 walks and 1 hit batter as the Charger pitchers struggled to throw strikes before Nate Mayo came in and steadied the ship.
Mayo entered with 2 outs in the third and went the rest of the way, scattering 2 hits, while not giving up a run or a walk.
With the contest tied at 5-5, Cam Logan scored what turned out to be the game-winning run in the fifth. After a walk, Logan advanced to second on a fielder’s choice. He moved to third on a passed ball and then a Jared Wingo single on a slow roller allowed Logan to score for the 6-5 lead that held up.
Rouse still had two more at bats but a double play by the Champion defense ended the sixth inning and then Rouse went down in order in the seventh with two pop ups and a ground out.
Game 1
After falling behind 6-0 in the second, Champion responded with all 3 of its runs in the top of the third to cut the lead in half at 6-3, but Rouse added 3 more in the bottom of the inning for the 9-3 advantage.
Neither team scored in the final four frames.
Champion finished with 7 hits in the game, 2 each from Jordan Ballin and Ethan Harrison, while Grant Kinzel hit a double and Evan Kuhl and Quinn Grable both singled.
Ballin, Kuhl and Harrison all scored single runs, while Kuhl picked up an RBI.
Four different pitchers threw in the game for the Chargers but nobody went beyond 1.2 innings so all were available for the rest of the series.
Also, by dropping the first game of the series, it meant the Chargers had to win the next two or get eliminated, something they did two weeks in a row to stand at 4-0 in elimination games during this playoff run.
5A STATE SEMIFINALS
Champion plays Argyle on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Dell Diamond in Round Rock. The winner plays for the state title Saturday at noon, also at Dell Diamond.
Comment
Comments