High School Baseball: London survives to top Hallettsville and advance to regional final

KENEDY — London's bid to repeat as Class 3A state champions was going to come with some close calls, and Thursday was one of them.

Taking advantage of two London errors in the sixth inning, Hallettsville climbed back into a game London had controlled with two runs to cut the Pirates' lead to one run putting London under pressure it hadn't seen in a while. London reliever Blake Watters, who had an error earlier in the inning, worked out of the jam but the momentum was shifting.

The Pirates, though, were not fazed and scored two runs in the sixth on a passed ball and bases loaded balk to add some insurance. Meanwhile, Watters closed out the game with a scoreless seventh for the save to give London a 5-2 win in a Class 3A regional semifinal one-game playoff at Joe Gulley Park.

"(It was) kind of staying and letting my defense play as best as they could. I got a couple of strikeouts and that kind of helped me out a little bit," said Watters, who threw two scoreless innings and had three strikeouts. "We are fighters, especially in that last inning when it was 3-2, we come in the bottom sixth get a couple of base hits, a balk and score some big runs and just finish the rest."

The two runs allowed Thursday were the most runs allowed by the Pirates in a postseason game, but it was a test that might be what the team needed to know that repeating as state champions will come with some adversity.

"We needed to be tested and that was a pressure that we kind of needed because we know each and every week is going to get tougher and tougher," London co-head coach Kevin Carr said. "We've had these same kids for three years and these kids — when that happens — always find a way to get the job done. I couldn't be more proud of them."

London will advance to take on Columbus or Santa Gertrudis Academy, who were slated to start a best-of-three series on Friday in Somerset, in the Region IV-3A final.

Thursday's highlights

The Pirates scored a run in the opening inning when RJ Olivares drove in Henry Sepulveda with a double to center field. Two innings later, London added two more on a bases loaded walk by Mason Jacob and an RBI single by Christian Olivares to lead 3-0. Hallettsville cut the lead to 3-1 in the sixth when Tanner Wagner smacked an RBI double to the left field fence. Another run scored on a second Pirates error in the inning to cut the lead to 3-2. London, though, scored two unconventional runs in the sixth when Landon Salinas scored on a passed ball and Kolby Budd scored on a balk. Watters gave up a two-out double to Jorian Wilson in the seventh but struck out Monte Thigpen to end the game.

Thursday's stars

After a tough start that saw London's Blayne Lyne give up two singles and a walk, he was stellar through the next four innings as the Brahmas only had runners in scoring position in the third and fourth. Lyne finished the game pitching five innings, giving up two unearned runs on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Along with earning the save, Watters was 2 for 3 at the plate with a run. RJ Olivares was 2 for 2 with an RBI and walk, and his brother, Christian Olivares, was 2 for 3 with a run and RBI. Henry Sepulveda was 1 for 3 with a sacrifice, walk and run. Hallettsville's Jorian Wilson finished the night 2 for 3 with a run and walk, and starting pitcher Brock Bludau was 2 for 4 at the plate. On the mound, Bludau gave up five runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

They said it

London co-head coach Kevin Carr on having Blake Watters pitch late in the game after an error: "We call him 'Ice' Watters for a reason. We've done that for three years, he's been in the toughest moments, he's been at state to close games ... we just always know we have him in our pocket if we needed him and it's awesome to have that feeling."

London second baseman RJ Olivares on how the Pirates can learn from Thursday's win: "We know we can overcome adversity. In that inning they scored two but I knew we could come back, get some hits, and scored some runs for Blake (Watters) and close it out."

Hallettsville coach Chad Gohlke on battling back in the game: "We talk a lot about don't get too high, don't get too low, keep pushing and they did that. We were hitting the ball all game and finally had a few bounces go our way there at the end. It's a good team."