Burnet baseball beats Lorena
CAPTION: Catcher Alex Cantrill makes sure a teammate is covering second before he throws as pitcher Matthew Valdez ducks down. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet High School baseball team defeated Lorena 2-1 in a best-of-three bi-district series in the Class 4A Division II playoffs May 2-3.
Next up is La Grange in a best-of-three area series in Hutto in the Class 4A Division II playoffs. Game one is at 7 p.m. Friday, May 9. Game two is at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 10, and game three is 30 minutes after the conclusion of the second contest.
Facing elimination against Lorena, the Bulldogs gutted out a 7-6 win in game two in extra innings and won the third game 3-0 both May 3. Lorena won game one 1-0 May 2 in extra innings thanks to an unearned run on an error.
“Our kids played well when it was time to play well,” Burnet head coach Russell Houston said. “We were just finding a way to win, finding a way to get the job done in game two. Win the first one and put all the pressure on them.”
In game two senior Matthew Valdez started at pitcher before classmate Rhett Murray took over for the next six innings.
“It was interesting going into the last inning,” Houston said.
Burnet loaded the bases when the Leopards made a pitching change. As the new pitcher was warming up, Houston met with his base runners and batter Macke Calhoun. The coach called for a suicide squeeze, a play the Bulldogs have run very successfully all year.
Instead Calhoun was hit by a pitch and took first base and the winning RBI.
Burnet had to come from behind to win after Lorena led 4-0 in the second inning.
“That was the most runs scored by either team,” Houston said of the 13 runs scored in the contest. “We made a mistake with two outs. We lost the ball in the sky. The kids were deflated a little. We responded right after that.”
Burnet drew a walk to start off the inning then senior Khris Kassner hit a double “that scored right off the bat, which was huge to get a little life back into us. That gave our kids a little life and momentum,” the coach said.
Macke took the momentum from the second game by hitting a triple down the right field line in the third inning of the third contest “that sparked everything,” Houston said.
Kassner followed that with a RBI double “that got us back to the top of the order, and we were able to score,” he said.
By the end, the Bulldogs led 2-0 and added a run in the fifth.
Meanwhile, Mason Watson pitched every inning of the third game. Watson was ready and seemed to want to be on the mound when his team needed him the most. That was the key, the coach said.
“You have to have guys ready to go, ready to come in and perform,” he said. “We were going to save Rhett to start game three. It didn’t work out.”
The series was supposed to begin May 1 but was postponed to the next day.
“It was interesting to not play Thursday,” Houston said. “We were traveling two hours north.”
When game one was played, Burnet pitcher Cooper Farris started and played well for 7 2/3 innings.
“He pitched great,” the coach said. “We pitched outstanding. We just couldn’t score. It was a great game. We outhit them in the first game 6-2. They had a leftie, who was very good. He had 14 strikeouts in game one. It was very frustrating to pitch that well, giving up two hits and lose 1-0.”
Houston said weather delays seemed to affect the first round of the playoffs more than any other, and because he has so many veterans, they adjusted to what was thrown at them.
“They’re used to that part of it,” he said. “They don’t seem to freak out.”
While the Bulldogs, who won the district championship and were bi-district champions in 2024, have been in this situation before, not everyone on the team has, Houston said. So there were some moments where the inexperienced lettermen had to adjust to the different feel of a May contest as opposed to one in March or April.
“I’m sure it played a little role,” he said. “Half of your team has been in this situation. We didn’t play with our (starting) shortstop this weekend. When you pull another kid in who’s a sophomore at shortstop, that kid has never been in this situation or in any spot let alone a win-or-go-home situation. The lights were bright in game one. It’s finding a way and not accepting losing. It’s being resilient and finding a way or figuring it out.”
CAPTION: Macke Calhaun scores a big run for the Bulldogs. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
