Wall baseball advances to state championship tournament with shut out win over Brock
Paul WitwerABILENE — The Wall baseball team advanced to the Class 3A state tournament after an 11-0 shutout victory over Brock in game two of a Region I-3A final at Crutcher Scott Field on Friday.
The Hawks (33-6-1) advanced to the state tournament for the first time since winning the 3A state title in 2019. Wall knocked off the Eagles (32-4-1) who were looking to make their third consecutive state tournament appearance.
After dropping the first game of the Region I-3A semifinal to Bushland 11-2, the Hawks won two straight games to advance to the regional final and beat Brock in two games by a combined score of 17-2.
“Going into this whole series I was a little bit of a skeptic (about our chances) because (Brock) had that experience,” Wall coach Jason Schniers said. “They had been there and done that and we hadn’t. So I was really, really, hoping the stage wouldn’t get too big for us and it never did. Not at one moment in this series did I think our kids couldn’t handle the moment.”
Friday’s highlights
In the top of the first inning with Luke Kemp on second and Gunnar Dillard on first, Dylan Gidney hit a double that brought Kemp in for the first run of the game. The next batter, Hagyn Barbee, was walked to load the bases and Will Scheer hit a single to give Wall its second run. The Hawks added another run when Caleb Braden walked, and the next batter, Augden Hallmark, hit a RBI triple into left field to give Wall an early 6-0 lead.
Neither team scored again until Dillard hit an RBI double that brought courtesy runner Mason Martinez home to increase the score to 7-0.
Dillard helped the Hawks score again on a hit to the Eagles third baseman, who made an error and let the grounder roll past him into left field, which brought Garren Wiggins home for an 8-0 lead in the sixth inning.
In the top of the seventh, with Barbee on second and Braden on first, a Hallmark bunt, that the Eagles pitcher collected and sailed over the head of the first basemen, brought Barbee in for the ninth run. A Kellan Oliver double RBI single brought in the final two runs for the Hawks and gave them an 11-0 lead to end the game.
Friday’s stars
Luke Kemp started and finished the game on the mound for the Hawks, tossing seven innings and giving up five hits, no runs and striking out five Eagles.
Kemp went 3 for 5 from the plate. Oliver went 2 for 5 with two RBI and a double. Dillard went 2 for 3 with one run, one walk, two RBI and a double.
They said it
Luke Kemp on getting the shutout win and advancing to state on his 17th birthday: “I feel amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better birthday gift right there, you know, but it’s not all about me right here. My offense came out hot and gave me six runs in the first inning (and) brought all the confidence to me. So I didn’t have to get too big, I just had to get up on the mound and relax.”
Schniers on the team rising to the expectations of being a Wall baseball team: “Just as I tell them, I don’t want it to be too big of a stage. There’s a lot of expectations and these kids grow up playing that and sometimes it’s not fair to the kids as far as when you don’t reach those expectations. It’s not always fair for the kids but we want them to be successful. And we’ve been successful so far and we’re gonna keep riding that.”