Longhorns to enter postseason as third seed

The district seeding is set for District 29-2A baseball with just one game left on the schedule.

The Harper Longhorns baseball team will compete in the postseason as the third seed out of District 29-2A following a 1-1 week.

The Longhorns blasted Center Point on Tuesday, April 19, 17-1, but then suffered a 7-2 home loss to Johnson City on Friday, April 22.

With a 5-4 record and one game left on the District 29-2A schedule, the Longhorns are headed to the postseason.

Pelting the Pirates

Sophomore Bryson Lake’s six-RBI day was just one of the many highlights in a 17-1 victory over the Center Point Pirates.

Lake went 1-4 in the game, but his one hit was a grand slam in the top of the fourth inning that scored Tucker Fleming, Corey Mauldin and Drew Chandler.

Harper freshman Tucker Fleming makes a throw during the Longhorns 7-2 loss on Friday. The Longhorns finished the regular season at San Saba on Tuesday. – Standard-Radio Post/ Reed Graff to er all scored three times, with Frantzen and Brewer walking three times. Parsons scored twice.

District champs

While the Apaches have one more game left on their regular season schedule, they decided to get the district title clinch out of the way in a 17-1 home win over Our Lady of Perpetual Health on Wednesday, April 20.

Moellendorf was lights out on the mound, striking out six with just one hit and one run in three innings of work.

Moellendorf was also 2-3 at the plate with a triple, an RBI and three runs scored. Gage Bryant slugged two doubles and drove in four runs, and both Brewer and Parsons hit doubles, as well.

Moellendorf, Brewer and Tatum all scored three runs each.

“The win clinches us the district championship, which also earns us a first-round bye,” head coach Rick Loth said.

“Hopefully we can make a run toward the AIAL championship.”

The Apaches will finish the regular season at home against St. John Bosco at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Oak Crest Park.

Both Mauldin and senior Ricky Harper recorded two-hit games and both Mauldin and Chandler scored three runs in the blowout victory.

Lake pitched the first three innings of the win, striking out five Pirates in three innings.

The bi-district playoffs present a familiar challenge to the Harper Ladyhorns softball team.

After finishing the district schedule strong having won three of their final four games and securing a spot in the playoffs, the Ladyhorns now set their sights on a rematch of the 2021 bi-district playoffs with the Thorndale Lady Bulldogs.

“We met them last season in the playoffs, and they are an extremely talented team,” head coach Callen Stevenson said of the Ladyhorns’ 25-4 loss in 2021. “I felt like we didn’t get a fair shot because of the weather, but they are a legit state title contender when they put all the pieces together, but I think the pieces we have compliment what they’re good at.”

Thorndale enters the one-game playoff at 11-8 on the year, boasting a 7-3 District 27-2A record. The Lady Bulldogs finished third behind Thrall and Bremond in the District 27-2A standings.

The Lady Bulldogs are powered by a trio of seniors, all three of which are committed to play collegiate softball. Reagyn Trahan (Hill College), Kelsey Kovar (Paris Junior College) and Emilee Baker (Texas State University) provide the fuel for the Lady Bulldogs, but even with their firepower, the

Johnson City

Harper got the run back in the bottom half of the inning. Following a leadoff single by Davis, Hagen Fleming doubled to the center field wall, allowing Davis to come around and tie the game at 1-1.

The bats fell silent however, as Harper struggled to scratch across runs over the next five innings.

Johnson City scored runs in the second and fourth innings and ran away with the win with two-run sixth and seventh innings.

The Longhorns got back on the board in the seventh inning on an RBI single from Davis but failed to recover from the six-run deficit, resulting in the 7-2 loss.

B. Lake 1 walk, 1 run; J. Davis 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 run, 1 RBI; H. Fleming 3 hits, 1 2B, 1 RBI; R. Harper 1 hit, 1 walk; T. Fleming 1 hit. Pitching: B. Lake (L) 6 IP, 7 hits, 5 runs, 2 earned, 1 walk, 8 SO; H. Fleming 1 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 1 SO.

Bryson Lake got the start on the mound for Harper and held the Eagles at bay early on, limiting the Eagles to three runs through the first five innings.

Johnson City struck first in the top half of the first inning as they scored on a wild pitch.

Harper junior Emma Strickland gets her lead during a game earlier this season. Strickland and the Ladyhorns will meet Thorndale in the bi-district playoffs at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday in Salado. - Noel Stacy/Harper ISD Media CHAMPS

Stenson said he liked how the Ladyhorns matched up with them.

“They’re extremely talented but I think what we’re good at counteracts what they do well,” he said. “I think we’re going to have to bunt, small-ball them and make them play be- hind their pitching.”

Stevenson said the Ladyhorns are heading into this game playing some of their best softball of the season.

The Ladyhorns finished the season in a loss but had won three straight prior to that and have won five of their last seven games.

The Longhorns wrapped up the regular season at San Saba on Tuesday and will enter the postseason as the third seed from District 29-2A. Playoff information will be posted by the Fredericksburg StandardRadio Post as it becomes available.

PLAYOFF SNAPSHOT

Harper Ladyhorns vs. Thorndale Lady Bulldogs

Where: Salado High School

When: Thursday, 5:30 p.m. Last Meeting: Thorndale beat Harper, 15-4, in the 2021 bidistrict playoffs Coach Stevenson: “I think we are clicking and ready to rock and roll.”

“I felt like the second half of district was the best softball we had played all year long,” he said. “So, I think we are clicking. Our district as a whole is extremely talented and all four of our playoff teams are well prepared to make a run. So, with how we played the back half of the season has us ready to rock and roll.”

The Ladyhorns and Lady Bulldogs will clash at Salado High School at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 28. In order to get a win, Stevenson said the Ladyhorns need to continue to do what they have done all season.

“Two keys that I carry into every game are to be aggressive on the bases and we need to be able to small-ball people,” he said. “You have to be able to be aggressive on the bases and put the ball in play against good teams with good pitching. You have to put pressure on them and make them show how good they are.”