Pudlugger
06-13-2004, 04:43 PM
Bailey, Leopards dominate to the end
Ace pitcher has 14 strikeouts, 3 RBIs as La Grange caps 33-1 season with state title
By Matthew Obernauer
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, June 13, 2004
ROUND ROCK--After 34 games that helped put a little town in Texas on the national baseball map, La Grange ended its 2004 season Saturday where it began -- atop the rest of Class 3A, after a 10-4 win over Forney in the state championship game.
Homer Bailey, the pitching prodigy who brought scouts and fans from around the state to La Grange before being drafted No. 7 overall Monday by the Cincinnati Reds, struck out 14 batters and knocked in three runs to lead the Leopards to their second state title in four years.
La Grange (33-1) went undefeated through its 3A schedule, and went wire-to-wire as Class 3A's No. 1-ranked team. Bailey won his second MVP award in a state championship game. As a freshman, he was named the most valuable player after winning the 2001 title game, also against Forney.
After throwing a high fastball past Chace Langford for the final out, Bailey pumped his fist in a quick uppercut before being mobbed by his teammates.
"I've been playing that in my head for the last three years," he said.
Chase Anderle scored the deciding run in the fourth. Lance Schramm and Bailey followed with RBI singles as part of a three-run inning that put the Leopards ahead for good.
From the fourth inning onward, 10 of Bailey's 12 outs came by strikeout, including all three in the seventh inning.
"I told my teammates, I told my coach, I even told the umpire, 'Get ready. I'm about to find another gear. I'm fixing to end this.' "
Schramm finished 3 for 4 with a triple and two runs scored, while Chris Neiser, one of the Leopards' unheralded but stellar players, went 2 for 4 with three RBIs, and in the sixth inning, he threw out Preston King trying to score from second on a single to protect La Grange's 6-4 lead.
After La Grange scored twice in the first inning, Forney jumped on Bailey for three runs in the third, on three hits and and two Leopards errors. It was the first time Bailey had trailed in a game all season.
"In the dugout, you could tell everyone was shaken up," left fielder Jacob Kozelsky said.
But in the bottom of the inning, La Grange loaded the bases and with two outs, Neiser hit an opposite-field single to tie the game and swing the momentum back toward La Grange. In the fourth, Kozelsky hit a leadoff single to start the deciding three-run inning in which the team sent eight men to the plate.
In the bottom of the sixth, La Grange scored four runs to put the game away. Schramm hit a leadoff triple to the centerfield wall, and Neiser hit a bases-loaded single to score two of the four runs.
The Leopards first three batters in the lineup -- Anderle, Stetson Hrbacek and Schramm, reached base in 8 of 14 plate appearances and scored six runs.
In the sixth inning, Bailey opened a blister on his left foot that began to bleed. He went to the dugout for a Band-Aid but stayed in the game.
mobernauer@statesman.com; 445-3959
Ace pitcher has 14 strikeouts, 3 RBIs as La Grange caps 33-1 season with state title
By Matthew Obernauer
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, June 13, 2004
ROUND ROCK--After 34 games that helped put a little town in Texas on the national baseball map, La Grange ended its 2004 season Saturday where it began -- atop the rest of Class 3A, after a 10-4 win over Forney in the state championship game.
Homer Bailey, the pitching prodigy who brought scouts and fans from around the state to La Grange before being drafted No. 7 overall Monday by the Cincinnati Reds, struck out 14 batters and knocked in three runs to lead the Leopards to their second state title in four years.
La Grange (33-1) went undefeated through its 3A schedule, and went wire-to-wire as Class 3A's No. 1-ranked team. Bailey won his second MVP award in a state championship game. As a freshman, he was named the most valuable player after winning the 2001 title game, also against Forney.
After throwing a high fastball past Chace Langford for the final out, Bailey pumped his fist in a quick uppercut before being mobbed by his teammates.
"I've been playing that in my head for the last three years," he said.
Chase Anderle scored the deciding run in the fourth. Lance Schramm and Bailey followed with RBI singles as part of a three-run inning that put the Leopards ahead for good.
From the fourth inning onward, 10 of Bailey's 12 outs came by strikeout, including all three in the seventh inning.
"I told my teammates, I told my coach, I even told the umpire, 'Get ready. I'm about to find another gear. I'm fixing to end this.' "
Schramm finished 3 for 4 with a triple and two runs scored, while Chris Neiser, one of the Leopards' unheralded but stellar players, went 2 for 4 with three RBIs, and in the sixth inning, he threw out Preston King trying to score from second on a single to protect La Grange's 6-4 lead.
After La Grange scored twice in the first inning, Forney jumped on Bailey for three runs in the third, on three hits and and two Leopards errors. It was the first time Bailey had trailed in a game all season.
"In the dugout, you could tell everyone was shaken up," left fielder Jacob Kozelsky said.
But in the bottom of the inning, La Grange loaded the bases and with two outs, Neiser hit an opposite-field single to tie the game and swing the momentum back toward La Grange. In the fourth, Kozelsky hit a leadoff single to start the deciding three-run inning in which the team sent eight men to the plate.
In the bottom of the sixth, La Grange scored four runs to put the game away. Schramm hit a leadoff triple to the centerfield wall, and Neiser hit a bases-loaded single to score two of the four runs.
The Leopards first three batters in the lineup -- Anderle, Stetson Hrbacek and Schramm, reached base in 8 of 14 plate appearances and scored six runs.
In the sixth inning, Bailey opened a blister on his left foot that began to bleed. He went to the dugout for a Band-Aid but stayed in the game.
mobernauer@statesman.com; 445-3959