By Cody Stark
Assistant Sports Editor
NEW WAVERLY —
NEW WAVERLY — New Waverly baseball coach Tommy Bohannon was hoping that he could talk Hardin, which is the Bulldogs’ area-round playoff opponent, into moving up next week’s series to accommodate the state track and field meet.
The Bulldogs have two starters, Eli Amador and Ryan Reyes, who qualified for the state track meet in Austin next Saturday, and Bohannon wanted to make sure that their rare opportunity was squandered. Luckily, the folks over in Hardin agreed 100 percent.
New Waverly will battle the Hornets in a three-game series beginning at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Summer Creek High School in Humble. Game two will be Friday afternoon at 5 and game three will follow if necessary.
“There were a few obstacles,” Bohannon said Friday afternoon, “ but once our kids qualified for the state meet, Hardin was very hospitable and cooperative with the schedule. Their athletic director said it was a chance in a lifetime and didn’t want to rain on their parade. They were very good to us.”
Hardin was the third-place squad out of District 23-2A and like the third-ranked Bulldogs (26-2), the Hornets had a bye in the bi-district round of the playoffs.
But Bohannon and his staff had a chance to see Hardin in action when the Hornets closed the regular-season with Warren.
“Last week we did get a chance to see them play their final district game against Warren,” the coach said. “Warren won the game 5-4. Warren had a lefty on the mound who did a great job. Warren had a big inning and Hardin couldn’t figure out that lefty.”
New Waverly doesn’t have a left-handed pitcher to throw at the Hornets, but the Dogs have two solid starters in Matt Roberts and Clint Brown.
Roberts is 11-0 with a with a 1.06 ERA in 53 innings. He has struck out 102 batters compared to only 11 walks.
Brown has been just as good. He is 8-0 with a 1.79 ERA to go along with 88 strikeouts.
New Waverly also has the sticks to go with the pitching staff. The Bulldogs have nine guys hitting over .300. Kody Coleman leads the way at .441 followed by Matt Gray (.425), Cole Bohannon (.415), Amador (.403), Reyes (.395), Eric Koonce (.378), Roberts (.338), Tate Maddox (.333) and Kyle Parkinson (.314).
“We feel like if we can get four or five runs then our pitching is hard to beat,” Bohannon said. “They avoid giving up that big inning. Our pitching and defense, along with our hitting, is a good combination.”
The Bulldogs had been out of action since closing the regular season with a 3-0 win over Anderson-Shiro on April 23. The players were growing restless of playing intrasquad scrimmages and just practicing, so Bohannon arranged a couple of warm-up games to keep the guys fresh.
New Waverly pounded Coldspring 11-2 on Tuesday and will travel to Bryan Rudder today for a game at 11 a.m. The Bulldogs played Rudder twice this season, suffering a 12-5 loss in their second game of the year and picking up an 8-2 win on March 13.
“Our last regular-season game was on April 23, so it was a necessity to play someone with an opposite colored jersey on,” Bohannon added. “We played well against Coldspring and we are looking forward to playing Bryan Rudder. We played Rudder twice this season and we won one and lost one. (Today) is going to be a good measuring stick for us in the playoffs.”
Today: New Waverly at Bryan Rudder in tune-up game, 11 a.m.
Record: Bulldogs are 26-2 overall
Area playoffs: Bulldogs play Hardin in best-of-three series, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. and Friday at 5 p.m., with a third game, if necessary later on Friday night; all games at Summer Creek High School, Humble
