On Saturday at Shiner Starplex, they blasted Bloomington for the second time in three days, scoring 10 runs in the third inning and seven in the fifth en route to a 19-0, five-inning victory for a sweep of the teams’ Class 2A Region IV semifinal series.
However, the Eagles (32-2) - striving for their second consecutive trip to the state tournament and their first-ever state championship - weren’t in much of a mood to celebrate.
Alan Valenzuela, Rogers’ star senior pitcher and second baseman, collided with center fielder Marshall Coots on a short fly ball in the first inning, and subsequent X-rays in nearby Yoakum revealed that Valenzuela’s left ankle was broken in three places.
Suddenly, the Eagles’ undefeated pitching tandem of Valenzuela (10-0) and junior Taylor Jungmann (11-0) - which is a combined 43-2 the past two seasons - was reduced to half of its previous strength.
In addition, Rogers’ seemingly unstoppable charge toward a state title absorbed a tough shot.
“That’s a major loss, because he’s a key member of our team,” Rogers coach Craig Coheley said of Valenzuela, who was to be taken to Scott and White Memorial Hospital to have his injured ankle repaired. “Your heart just goes out to Alan. We can’t replace him, but I told our guys that if everyone picks up a little of the slack then we can still do this.”
Rogers senior catcher Chris Joshlin, who homered and drove in four runs, said his thoughts were with longtime batterymate Valenzuela.
“I know he’s devastated because he’s a senior and he’s worked so hard,” Joshlin said. “Injuries happen in sports; it’s part of the game. We just have to pray for Alan.
“We knew that Alan was out,” he added, “but this whole year everyone on our team has come together and we did that today. We’re still pretty solid up and down.”
Rogers, which won Thursday’s series opener 10-1 in Columbus, advanced to next week’s regional final and will battle the winner of Monday’s one-game playoff between No. 2 Trinity and Bishop.
Bloomington, which placed third in District 31-2A and then won series against Freer, No. 3 Geronimo Navarro and Karnes City, finished with a 22-9 record.
“We set a goal to get at least to this round, and we did it,” Bloomington second-year coach Michael Whitehead said. “We were disappointed in how we played today. We were not competitive and we just fell apart, but that’s baseball.
“Rogers, they’re good. I just told them, ‘Go win it all.’ At least then we can say we lost to the state champs.”
The Eagles have enjoyed productive first innings throughout the playoffs, and they got off to another early lead Saturday. Braxton Byers and Coots wrapped one-out singles around a Joshlin walk. After Valenzuela popped out, Jungmann’s bases-loaded walk against Arnulfo Garza (8-4) created a 1-0 lead. Rogers did leave the bases loaded, though.
Valenzuela’s frightening injury came in the bottom of the fifth. Sean Chapa hit a soft fly ball to shallow right-center field against the hard-throwing Jungmann, and Valenzuela headed out as Coots raced in.
The slammed together and the ball fell in for one of only two Bloomington hits. Temple College signee Coots got up unscathed, but Hill College commitment Valenzuela wasn’t as fortunate. Clearly in severe pain, he stayed down for almost 15 minutes before he was carried off and taken for observation.
Rogers added to its lead in the second, as Joshlin’s fielder’s-choice groundout drove in pinch runner Kris Janke to make it 2-0.
The Eagles proceeded to explode in the third against Garza and Game 1 loser Philly Garcia, scoring 10 runs to transform a close game into a complete rout. They sent 13 batters to the plate, taking advantage of six hits, three walks and three Bobcat errors in the outburst.
Kory Michalka had a run-scoring single, Byers ripped a two-run double and Joshlin added an RBI single to right before Cameron Doskocil’s infield single drove in one and Marcus Pencik’s single brought in two.
“We’re hitting the ball well,” said Coheley, whose club has won its last four games by a combined score of 51-2. “We’ve been hitting it well since our playoff practice games.”
Rogers was retired in order in the fourth but poured it on in the fifth. Joshlin began the seven-run outburst with his fourth home run of the season, and the Eagles got five more hits and four walks to overwhelm the pitching-depleted Bobcats.
Texas commitment Jungmann pitched four innings of two-hit ball with six strikeouts, and senior Ricky Brenek (8-0) – pitching for the first time in the playoffs – struck out two in throwing a perfect fifth to end the game.
And with Valenzuela out for the rest of the season, Brenek becomes the Eagles’ No. 2 pitcher.
Said Coheley: “Ricky is very important to us. Our guys, now they’ll all have to all hit better and field better.”
