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“They seem pretty loose to me,” Flatonia coach Shawn Bruns said of his players, who spent Thursday night eating dinner at Fuddruckers and attending the Class 4A final at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.
The Bulldogs (24-5-1) will return to Dell Diamond today at 10 a.m. for a Class 1A semifinal game against Seymour (17-12).
The winner will advance to Saturday’s 4 p.m. championship game at Dell Diamond against the winner of today’s 1 p.m. semifinal between Pineland West Sabine and Bosqueville.
“You come up here and watch games and it’s different,” Bruns said. “Of course, at Disch-Falk Field you had to deal with the artificial turf. At Dell Diamond you’re dealing with the atmosphere of a minor league ballpark and you have more people from around the state watching. It’s a matter of focusing on the game and not worrying about the outside stuff.”
Bruns was an assistant when Flatonia advanced to the state final in 1992 and was in his first season as head coach when the Bulldogs won the title in 1993. Flatonia played its 1993 semifinal game at Burger Center in Austin before moving to Disch-Falk for the final.
“We’ve had some teams that I thought were better than the team that won it,” Bruns said. “For whatever reason, whether a team we faced was a little better, it just didn’t work out. This team has been able to pull it all together. The kids on this year’s team have played together and they enjoy being around each other. You’ve got to be a team to advance.”
Bruns expects a challenge from Seymour and pitcher Hayden Holub in the semifinal.
Holub was the starting quarterback for Seymour and tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the state championship game against Alto. But Holub pitched complete games in his last three outings to lead the Panthers to the state tournament.
“We’ve heard he’s real tough and throws in the mid-80s,” Bruns said. “But all we really know is from what people have told us. If he is real tough, we’re going to have to scratch across runs, play defense and keep them off the basepaths.”
Flatonia will counter with Dakota Pinney, who has an 11-1 record with a 1.84 ERA.
“He’s been tough,” Bruns said of Pinney. “He’ll give up a hit or two here and there but nobody has been able to string together a bunch of hits and we’ve played good defense behind him.”
Bruns believes the Bulldogs have earned their spot at the state tournament by coming through a difficult Region IV bracket that included Shiner and Granger.
“The kids have played real loose all through the playoffs,” Bruns said. “They should be here after being in the district we were in and the teams we competed against. They’ve been playing consistently and doing a good job at the right time.”
Corpus Christi Calallen 11, Waxahachie 1
ROUND ROCK – Patrick Frasier went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and Roland Resendez added two RBIs as Corpus Christi Calallen defeated Waxahachie to win the state Class 4A championship on Thursday.
Calallen (42-1) scored eight of its runs in the fifth inning. Waxahachie (32-9) committed four errors and used two pitchers in the fifth inning. The Wildcats had five hits in the inning.
The game was called at the end of five innings because of the 10-run rule.
Frasier, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, homered in the third inning. Resendez, the designated hitter, went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and homered for the Wildcats in the second inning.
Jordan John (11-1) allowed just four hits and struck out five batters in a complete game for Calallen.
Marshall Davis (10-4) gave up seven hits and three runs in the loss.
Waxahachie’s lone run came in the second inning on a home run by designated hitter Drew Harrison. Harrison went 2-for-2 and also served as a relief pitcher.
Snyder 3, Pleasant Grove 2 (8 innings)
AUSTIN – Snyder scored two runs in the eighth and survived a rally in the bottom of the inning to beat Pleasant Grove and win the Class 3A baseball championship Thursday.
Snyder’s Chad Franks drove in a run with a two-out double in the top of the inning and scored the eventual game winner on a throwing error by Pleasant Grove.
Down 3-1, Pleasant Grove got within 3-2 when Jon Phillips scored on a Snyder error. Pleasant Grove had two runners on base when Snyder’s Brent Bollinger got Michael Wacha to hit a grounder to short for the final out.
Bollinger pitched a complete game for Snyder (35-8), allowing three hits and striking out nine. Wacha, who pitched 3 1/3 innings, took the loss for Pleasant Grove (25-9).
Salado 12, Corsicana Mildred 8
ROUND ROCK – Salado scored five runs in the second inning to break a 1-1 tie and went on to beat Corsicana Mildred in the Class 2A baseball championship.
Matt Fritsch doubled to centerfield to score two runs in the second for the Eagles (32-6). Another run came in when shortstop Miles Weaver overthrew the third baseman and Fritsch scored when catcher Trevor Burnet committed a throwing error at home plate.