With no hits entering the bottom of the fourth inning, the Chaps needed a spark. Junior center fielder Lane Johnson got the party started with a double followed by a hit by pitch and a single that scored the Chaps first two runs of the game. From there, the Chaps never lost the lead and took home the Area Championship.
The Chaps (21-18) defeated the O’Connor Panthers (13-15-4) 6-0 to take game two of the series and complete the sweep for their second Area Championship in a row last Friday night at Texas State University. The Chaps put together all of their runs in the fourth and fifth inning on their way to the series win.
Junior pitcher Luke Rafferty was the mainstay for the Chaps during the game. With no offensive support until the middle of the game, it was on him to keep the Chaps in position to eventually win. Even after the Chaps took the lead, Rafferty still maintained a clean slate and exited in the sixth inning with a stellar nine strikeouts and only three hits.
“He [Rafferty] tunnels his pitches very well,” head coach Danny Wallace said. “The fastball that’s up looks like the breaking ball that bites off and so it’s a really good combination.”
In the first game, senior pitcher Hayes Brodhead went the full game while only allowing one run and five hits.
“Hayes and Rafferty were really good again,” Wallace said. “Pitching travels and you gotta have it in the playoffs and we’ve had it.”
With the pitching holding down the Panthers offense, it was up to the Chaps lineup to produce the runs to secure the win. Johnson put up an impressive stat line with two clutch hits and two runs that really kickstarted the offense.
“We were all out front early on,” Johnson said. “And the second time through the lineup, we made the adjustment to let it get deep, try to get jammed a little bit because the guy was throwing pretty slow. So once we made that adjustment, it was barbeque chicken from there.”
After the initial double in the bottom of the fourth, Johnson got the bat in his hands again in the bottom of the fifth. He hit a line drive to the center fielder, and started flying around the bases as senior shortstop Austin Knox came into score.
“I was rounding the bases and I knew it was going to be a triple, but then I saw Coach Wallace waving me home,” Johnson said. “I was like ‘oh crap, no way’, and I tried to turn on the jets.”
As Johnson nearly crossed home plate, he was tagged out by the catcher, however the umpire called obstruction and Johnson was called safe for an inside-the-park home run and a 5-0 lead for the Chaps.
“I’m just glad it worked out,” Johnson said grinning.
The Chaps next take on the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Bears for a rematch in this year’s Region IV Semifinal starting Thursday night. The Bears knocked out the Chaps last year in a 2-0 sweep that ended the Chaps season and head coach JT Blair’s tenure with the team.
“They knocked us out of the playoffs last year, so we got a little revenge coming up,” Johnson said. “We got a chip on our shoulder to come back next week and give them all we got.”
