SAN ANTONIO — At one point, the Boerne High baseball team was on the playoff bubble and was 7-5 in 26-5A. The Greyhounds needed to finish strong in their four remaining games to have a chance.
BHS coach Geoff Curtin told the team to relax and simplify.
“We told them to win the little things and stack up little victories,” he said. “We told them not to worry about trying to win a game or the inning, just win a pitch and stack little victories. Don’t worry about the big picture because it would take care of itself.”
The advice worked because Boerne responded by winning all four games and avoided any kind of play-in game by virtue of going 4-0 down the stretch.
After beating Pieper by a run (3-2) and run ruling Wagner (13-3), the Greyhounds swept New Braunfels 5-2 and 3-0 to finish third in 26-5A at 11-5 (22-10 overall) and clinch a postseason berth.
The Greyhounds open the playoffs against Cedar Park. Game 1 is Thursday at Leander, 6 p.m. Game 2 is Friday in New Braunfels, and a third game, if needed, would be Saturday at Leander, 1 p.m.
Boerne didn’t make the playoffs last year and Curtin said it’s great to rebound like that. It’s their first playoff appearance as a 5A.
“As a coach, it’s nice to get back into the postseason,” he said. “We were picked like sixth when the season started, and the thing is, we could have gotten second if we didn’t lose that game to (Alamo) Heights.”
BHS 3, NB 0
Boerne avoided a play-in game with last Friday’s 3-0 win over NB in a game played at Harlandale.
The Hounds did all their damage in one inning and scored all 3 runs in the fourth frame.
Colton Shaver was hit by a pitch, Jackson Grimes walked and Ronnie Scarbrough laid down a perfect bunt and beat it out to load the bases with no outs.
Josh Kory came up and hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Shaver for the 1-0 lead. The next BHS batter was retired with a pop up and runners at third and first.
Cale Francis singled to bring in Grimes from third and then EJ Goolsby singled to bring in courtesy runner Austin Gerbes to make it 3-0.
The Unicorns’ best chance to score came in the top of the seventh when they put runners on second and third with one out and had the tying run at the plate.
Henry Holt came up for NB and hit a fly ball to center field where Boerne’s Kepa Kanae caught the ball for the second out. The runner at third tagged but Kanae threw him out at the plate for the double play to end the game in dramatic fashion.
Goolsby and Kory finished with 2 hits and 1 RBI each, Francis picked up an RBI single, while Scarbrough and Grimes both singled.
Eli Srp went 6.1 innings on the hill to pick up the shutout win. He gave up 3 hits, no runs, 3 walks and had 3 strike outs.
Shaver came in and induced the double play on seven pitches to earn the save.
BHS 5, NB 2
The Boerne bats came alive in the fifth inning during Wednesday’s district baseball game at New Braunfels.
Wednesday’s contest was tied 2-2 going into the fifth, but an inside-the-park home run, a triple and a double turned the tide in Boerne’s favor and helped the team score three runs and they went on to defeat the Unicorns, 5-2. The Unicorns scored single runs in the first and third, but BHS tied it in the fourth with a pair of runs thanks to a walk and two singles.
In the fifth, Otis Skubal led off the inning with an insidethe- park home run. Skubal hit a shot that the NB centerfielder seemed to lose in the lights to give him a head start on the play.
Skubal scooted around the bases and the throw to the plate was off and Skubal safely slid over the plate to give BHS the 3-2 edge.
After a ground out, Colton Shaver singled and then Jackson Grimes tripled to bring in Shaver for the 4-2 lead. Ronnie Scarbrough came up and doubled to bring in Grimes’ courtesy runner Caden Guerrero and the Hounds were up 5-2.
New Braunfels didn’t score after the third inning as BHS starting pitcher Grimes kept them off balance and recorded 11 strikeouts. He gave up 2 hits, 2 runs and 3 walks in six innings of work on 112 pitches.
Shaver entered in the seventh and struck out two Unicorns, hit a batter and induced a fly out to end it on 22 pitches. He didn’t give up a hit or a walk.
BHS outhit the Unicorns, 9-2, in Wednesday’s contest.
Skubal had the homer, Grimes tripled and Scarbrough doubled and singled. Shaver knocked out 2 hits and scored a run, Cale Francis singled and drove in a run, EJ Goolsby singled, while Eli Srp singled, scored and picked up an RBI.
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