Look: Lake Travis sweeps La Joya in Texas Region IV-6A baseball semifinals
SINTON - Lake Travis broke loose in the sixth inning, scoring five runs to beat La Joya 5-0 in the Region IV-6A baseball semifinals on Saturday. The win gave Lake Travis a series sweep.
The Cavaliers beat La Joya 11-0 in five innings in Game 1 on Thursday.
“We had graduation last night, and I am sure they have a lot going on this week,” Lake Travis head coach Mike Rogers said. “This is a tough round and credit to La Joya they did an outstanding job with the pitching staff. I am proud of our guys for hanging in there."
The Cavaliers move on to play San Antonio Reagan, who beat Eagle Pass on Thursday in a one game series, for the Region IV-6A championship.
“That is the goal each week, to survive one more round and keep surviving,” Rogers said. “I am excited for next week and to go back to work to see what next week holds for us.”
After five scoreless innings, Lake Travis started to make hard contact in the sixth. Cole Johnson hit a hard-line drive to La Joya third baseman J.R. Ramos who fired it over to first base, but it was determined that there was no control.
Senior Ethan Calder, who celebrated graduating from Lake Travis High School on Friday, ripped a double to score courtesy runner Reider Luke and give the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead.
“I was just trying to move the runner over and do something for my teammates, get a run in, and get some momentum going, so finally mixed it up and found a hole,” Calder said. “Moving to the next round is huge. We are ready to play, we are ready to play (San Antonio) Reagan.”
La Joya pitcher Santiago Tijerina struck out Austin Reid and got Dylan Schlotterback at second base to pick up two outs in the sixth and put the Coyotes in a great position to get out of the inning. But Lake Travis kept coming, eventually loading the bases. David Ripple lined a single to score Calder and Will Langdon to give Lake Travis a 3-0 lead.
La Joya decided to change pitchers with Ramos taking the mound for the Coyotes. Gavin Schlotterback was hit by a pitch to force a run across the plate and make it 4-0. Lake Travis scored tacked on one more run to take a 5-0 lead heading into the final inning.
The Coyotes attempted to rally in their final at bat as J. C. Gutierrez opened the inning with a single. But the Cavaliers turned a double play to pick up two quick outs. Nathan Gutierrez ended the game with a long fly ball that was caught by OJ Gonzalez to send the Cavaliers to the next round.
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