The Llano High School baseball team squeaked out a 4-3 victory against Brady April 15 in District 5-3A play.
"Brady came in here with a lot of confidence," head coach Todd Doucet said. "Their kids made play after play after play. And we just hung in there. And finally things went our way. We played Jacket baseball tonight."
With the score tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Doucet gathered with his players before they grabbed their helmets.
"What's the name of the game?" he asked the Yellow Jacket in the huddle. "The name of the game is 'Tack On.' And that means we just want a run here, we want a run there. Just keep playing. I think they did a great job of playing Jacket baseball."
Sophomore shortstop Josiah Wood drew a lead-off walk and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior outfielder George Gallucci.
Wood, who moved to third on a wild pitch, trotted home on a hit-and-run by senior Logan Van Pelt, who singled to center-right field.
Then senior pitcher Colton Bailey completed his outing by striking out the first batter, forcing the next one to pop up to sophomore catcher Cash Lynch for the out in foul territory, and forcing the third batter to hit into a routine out that started with Wood getting a ground ball and throwing to senior first baseman Carl Schutte.
The Bulldogs (1-6) scored two runs in the second inning, but Lynch trimmed that in half when he slid into home plate in the bottom half of the inning.
Both teams scored a run in the third inning. But Llano (3-4) added a run in the fourth to tie the contest at 3-3 to set up the heroics in the sixth inning.
Bailey helped his own cause by bringing home freshman Lucas McClintock, while Wood had a RBI. Doucet noted that heads-up base-running by Lynch turned a single into a double when he "looked up and there's nobody on second base."
But no Jacket had a better offensive night than Van Pelt, who had three hits in three plate appearances with two RBI.
"You can't say enough about Logan Van Pelt," the coach said. "He is unsung. He was just a great football player for us this year. He comes out and he goes to work every day. He is an awesome person. When he's not in the lineup, he cheers everybody on. But tonight, the senior did a great job. He will be successful; if he sells marbles, he will be successful at whatever he does. I can't even express how proud I am of him."
Bailey allowed two earned runs off seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Doucet said the pitcher "got in a groove" and didn't stop until the final out.
"It's just an unbelievable job of him keeping them off balance," he said. "And I'm real proud of the way he performed tonight. His pitch count was low, and he was getting ahead in the count. You can't say enough about Bailey's performance. I'm real proud of the way he pitched. All you can ask a senior is to go out and go all in."
The win came on the heels of Llano losing to Ingram Tom Moore 13-1 April 11 where the Warriors had nine earned runs off 10 hits and nine walks.
Meanwhile, Ingram junior pitcher Tyler Langbein allowed one unearned run off four hits and a walk and struck out five.
On the same night, Brady defeated Comfort (9-10, 4-3) 4-3 to split the season series.
"I tip my hat to Brady," Doucet said. "They played Comfort last week and beat Comfort one out of two. They came in here with some confidence.
The series finale is in Brady Thursday, April 17. The varsity will play first at 5 p.m. followed by the junior varsity. The Bulldogs requested the time change in an effort to accommodate an athlete who is competing at the Class 3A Region I track and field championships.
The regular season ends next week when Llano faces Comfort. The Jackets travel there Tuesday, April 22, and welcome the Bobcats Friday, April 25. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
