Salado’s Sam VanHoozer made sure of that.

The senior left-handed pitcher threw a two-hit shutout Tuesday as Salado ended Rogers’ 28-game District 25-2A winning streak with a 4-0 victory in the district opener for both teams.

“I was feeling pretty confident,” VanHoozer said. “I have a great defense behind me. I knew I had to come out and keep the ball down and keep it on the ground and they’d make the plays. It’s a great start. We haven’t beat them in a while. It’s a good thing to start off with a win, especially against them.”

Added Salado coach Melvin Bates, whose team is 8-2: “Sam VanHoozer brought his ‘A’ game tonight. A shutout in the first district game . . . I couldn’t ask for more.”

The loss for Rogers (9-2) was its first in 25-2A play since a 6-2 defeat to Academy in its district finale on April 29, 2005. It was also Rogers’ first loss against 2A competition since the Eagles fell to Brock in the 2006 state semifinals.

VanHoozer was in control from the start. After Rogers threatened with runners on first and third in the second inning, VanHoozer (3-0) got out of the jam and retired the next 14 batters.

He allowed two hits - a second-inning infield single by opposing starting pitcher Greg Mendoza and Dylan Kuehn’s seventh-inning single to that bounced off Justin Berumen’s glove - walked one batter and struck out seven.

VanHoozer retired Rogers in order five innings, including striking out the side in the fourth, and only four Rogers batters reached base.

“My changeup was my main key,” VanHoozer said. “I was hitting my spots tonight.”

Added Rogers coach Craig Coheley: “The big thing is he was around the plate with all his pitches. He did a good job of pitching on the outer half of the plate and getting ahead. We hit a lot of balls right at them. We hit some balls hard right to them. That’s baseball.”

Coming into the game, Salado had been shut out four straight times by Rogers, a span of 26 innings.

The host Eagles finally got on the board in the second inning. Salado used a fielder’s choice, a hit batter and a walk to load the bases. Senior third baseman Matt Fritsch fouled off four straight pitches before smacking a two-run single into right field for a 2-0 lead.

After Fritsch stole second base, he and Seth Collins raced home on the same play because of a wild pitch and a throwing error by the catcher for a 4-0 lead.

“I was kind of disappointed we didn’t do it a little bit earlier,” Bates said about scoring first. “We’ve got a bunch of seniors on this team and they feel like it’s their turn. Scoring first was a definite plus. Matt Fritsch came up with the big hit. Against a young team, if you can get on top first it sure puts pressure on them.”

Collins was 2-for-3 with a double. Justin Schiller and Berumen had the other two Salado hits.

Whereas Salado, which has lost in the Region IV quarterfinals two straight seasons, returns a veteran team, Rogers has just two starters back from a squad that was 36-2 and won its first state title last June.

Only two of its 18 players are seniors, so Coheley said Tuesday night’s loss against an experienced Salado squad definitely is one his team can build on.

“I’m not disappointed in my guys,” Coheley said. “My guys played a heck of a game. I told them it’s a long season. This is one game and that’s all it is. We’ll regroup. It’s like an endurance race. This is just the beginning."

Rogers will compete in the Llano tournament this weekend, while Salado hosts its own tournament.

cmeister@temple-telegram.com