Brooks Gay was in the zone, literally, pitching a complete game shutout against No. 5 Lubbock Coronado in Friday’s District 4-5A game at Bulldog Field.
Of Gay’s 79 pitches, 53 went for strikes as he gave up one hit and walked two to go with nine strikeouts as the No. 23 Bulldogs won 9-0. The junior sat down Coronado in order in the first inning with a strikeout and got the only run he would need in the home half.
“We knew it was going to be a good game, these guys are good,” Gay said. “I knew I had to be on. I made sure I had a feel for everything in the bullpen. I didn’t have a choice, I had to be like that. … I was telling these guys, ‘Get me one in the bottom of the first,’ and they did. After that, just kept adding on and I knew we had them.”
Wylie wasn’t done scoring though, and pounced when Coronado’s starter Trevor Stephens left with one out in the second inning with an apparent arm injury. The lead grew to 4-0 with a three-run third and five runs in the fifth helped put the game away.
The Bulldogs (12-3 overall, 2-0 district) pounded out 13 hits, including four doubles, as eight of nine batters who stepped to the plate got at least one hit. Six Wylie players scored, and seven had at least one RBI.
“I think it was just our preparation all week,” Wylie coach Grant Martin said. “Wednesday and Thursday, we had a great day both days. We got outside and fought the elements. Just talking to the kids about, we may have to play in this. Everything we did was dictated by hitting line drives and ground balls and that’s exactly what we did today.
“It’s all about team. It’s something we’ve done all year. It’s not about them, it’s about the team. That’s a really good team over there, we understand that, I’m just proud of the kids and how they worked all week.”
Leading off the home half of the first, Balin Valentine hit a double just off the outstretched glove of the Coronado first baseman and would score on an error. He hit another double, this one scoring a pair of runs, in the fifth and came home on Riley Hood’s single.
Garrett Graham also had a two-hit performance, including a walk, double, run and RBI. J.T. Thompson and Landon Bailey had two hits each while Landon Williams delivered the other double.
“There was just a difference sense Wednesday and Thursday, for us,” Martin said. “They didn’t gripe, they didn’t complain one time. We told them it wouldn’t be easy, we came out one day when it was blowing 30 miles an hour. They had their eyes wide open and we’re ready to go and weren’t shying away from it.”
It was more than enough for Gay, who only allowed one runner to get to second. Cooper Nell delivered the only hit for Coronado (14-4, 1-1) to lead off the third. He was doubled-off as Valentine made a leaping snag on a line drive and stepped on second to end the inning and the only Mustangs threat.
Gay had one-two-three innings in the first, third, fifth, sixth and seventh.
“In his case, he works during the week, that’s no secret to us. We’ve seen it for a long time,” Martin said. “He’s a kid that loves moments like this and relishes in the opportunity to pitch against a quality opponent, a really good team.”
Gay’s effort followed Dash Albus, six innings, and Jaxon Hanson combining for the shutout against Lubbock Monterey in Tuesday’s 6-0 victory.
“All these pitchers, everybody’s been putting in the work,” Gay said. “The pitchers are my guys, they’re my best friends, we hang out every day. When it comes to baseball, we put the work in, it’s business. I knew the lineup would perform, it’s nice to see it all paying off.”
There won’t be much time for the Bulldogs to celebrate as they turn around and host Lubbock-Cooper at 1 p.m. Saturday. It’s part of life in District 4-5A.
“We understand (Saturday’s) another one,” Martin said. “We’ve got to get ready to go again. It’s going to be a dogfight every single game. I’m proud of the effort tonight, the preparation was key.”
Jordan Hofeditz covers Abilene high schools and colleges, Big Country schools and other local sports. Follow him on Twitter at @jhofeditz. If you appreciate locally drive news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.
DISTRICT 4-5A
No. 23 Wylie 9, No. 5 Lubbock Coronado 0
Coronado 000 000 0—0 1 3
Wylie 103 050 X—9 13 1
Trevor Stephens, Esai Torres (3) and Layden White. Brooks Gay and Landon Williams.
2B — Wylie: Balin Valentine 2, Williams, Garrett Graham. RBIs — Wylie: Valentine 2, Riley Hood, Graham, Williams, J.T. Thompson, Landon Bailey, Cooper Hrbacek. Runs — Wylie: Valentine 2, Jaxon Hansen 2, Graham, Bailey, Reed Hughes, Hrbacek.
Notes — Stephens left the game with one out in the second inning with an injury. After reaching on an error, Charlie Robinson was thrown out trying to advance to second in the top of the seventh.
