The Tigers (12-1) belted out 28 total hits as they beat Cedar Park 7-5 in 10 innings and then edged Georgetown 10-8 to claim the championship of the Georgetown Invitational.
“Our kids did really well,” Belton coach David Tidwell said. “Georgetown is supposed to be the No. 1 team in Central Texas and our kids really enjoyed beating them.”
Getting to the title game against Georgetown (8-5) wasn’t easy. Belton, which was undefeated until a 6-5, eight-inning loss to Austin McCallum on Friday, had to go three extra innings against Cedar Park to win.
The Tigers scored a run in the top of the seventh to force extra innings, then in the seventh Brett Hernandez hit his first home run of the year, a two-run shot, to secure the victory.
“That was just a great high school baseball game,” Tidwell said. “That was one big play by Hernandez. It was a fun game but it was gut-wrenching.
“By the time you get to the fifth game of a tournament you’re out of pitching. But I thought (Nick) Wright did a great job. He came in the final 2 2/3 innings and shut them down.”
But the day was far from over, as Belton had to still find some pitching for the final against Georgetown.
Sophomore Seth Alcozer got the Tigers off to a good start at the plate, hitting a three-run shot in the first inning for his seventh homer of the season. Belton made it 6-0 in the third off key hits by Kevin Thornton, Garrett Vail and Paul Wilson.
But Georgetown was able to scratch away at the lead and tie the game at 6 heading into the seventh.
Shane Hoelscher and Thornton then both hit two-run doubles to reclaim the lead, and sophomore pitcher Dillon Newman (4-0) had just enough to pick up the win as Belton’s fourth pitcher.
“We got 28 hits on the day and just one error today,” Tidwell added. “That’s going to win a lot of games.”
The Tigers will be at the Brenham tournament starting Thursday.
