As another postseason dawns for Westlake baseball, the Chaps will take on Vandegrift for the second straight season. However the Chaps are not unprepared for a tough series against some of the best teams in the state.
“The difficult schedule we played has given us the experience of facing great teams and players,” head coach Danny Wallace said. “Which helps in the playoffs because we aren’t facing talent that we have not already seen in games.”
In the long 33-game season the Chaps played this year, including tournaments against top teams in the nation in Dallas and Lake Charles, LA, it’s no surprise that some players went down with injuries. However, this year the Chaps faced an exorbitant amount of injuries, especially in the pitching staff.
“We have had a very unfortunate season when discussing the health of our pitchers,” Wallace said. “The only mindset has to be ‘Next man up’. We have some young talented pitchers and they will get the opportunity to help us win a playoff series.”
Due to this, the Chaps have gone down to the junior varsity teams and have made the decision to bring up players in order to fill holes within the already injury-filled existing roster.
“The callups are needed to improve depth due to the injuries,” Wallace said. “We have four players that are out for the year due to injuries and two-three more that are trying to get healthy to play.”
The lack of depth due to injuries proved crucial late in the season. Although the Chaps took the first game of their final regular season series against Dripping Springs, 10-4, they fell flat in the second game of the home-and-home and were run-ruled 11-1. Wallace described the reason for that loss as not being able to pitch well.
However the Chaps proved that they can get onto opposing pitchers early. In the first game of the series against the Tigers, the Chaps were able to put up five runs on the board in the first frame. Wallace chalked that up to having strong game plans before getting to the plate.
“The key to beating any good pitcher is to have a plan in place and trust that plan,” Wallace said. “Another reason we played a tough schedule was to help us face good arms all year.”
Although Westlake will have to deal with an injury-ridden staff, it still boasts an elite rotation. Senior pitcher Hayes Brodhead should be the reliable pitcher that he’s been all year while senior pitcher T Collard and junior pitcher Will Rabe will be ready to back him up in the bullpen if needed.
“The key to attacking any offense is to get in front of the count and minimize walks and make them hit the pitch we want,” Wallace said. “Our staff is very capable of doing that.”
With heavy rain in the forecast, it will be a touch-and-go situation on game times for this week however, the first game of the best of three series against Vandegrift is scheduled for 5 P.M. Thursday evening at Woerner Field. The Chaps know they have what it takes to make a deep run in the postseason that hopefully culminates with a trip to Round Rock for a chance at the program’s first 6A State Championship.
“Getting hot is what every team shoots for this time of the year,” Wallace said. “The formula is not a secret. It’s all pitching, defense and timely hitting in May. The teams that do that play longer and have a shot at a State title.
