His players certainly received the message.
Salado pounded out 16 hits for the game and scored 11 times in the second inning to rout Troy 20-2 in five innings in a battle between unbeaten District 25-2A teams.
“We talked before the game about our bats helping out,” Bates said. “The first couple of district games we hadn’t had a whole lot of hits. We’ve had good pitching and have played good defense most of the time, but we spoke about getting our offense going some.”
Salado (12-3) moved to 3-0 in 25-2A and is the league’s only undefeated team left. Troy fell to 8-5, 2-1.
Leadoff hitter Seth Collins jumpstarted the offensive onslaught in the first inning with a double to center field.
After Collins advanced to third on Johnny Nix’s groundout, Matt Fritsch lined a pitch up the middle to drive him in for a 1-0 lead.
Garrett Ward singled up the middle on a 2-2 pitch to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead. Justin Berumen followed with another hit up the middle on an 0-2 pitch for a 5-0 lead. No. 9 hitter Tyler Wright doubled to right-center to make it 6-0.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, the Eagles were just getting warmed up.
In the second inning, Fritsch and Justin Schiller singled and Kevin Jackson walked to load the bases. Blake Heller walked to bring in Fritsch for a 7-0 lead.
An infield RBI single - intended to be a suicide squeeze - by Ward and an RBI single by Wright made it 9-0. Collins was hit by a pitch to bring in a run and Nix singled to left for an 11-0 lead.
Fritsch smacked a three-run double to right and later scored on an error. Jackson capped the 11-run inning with his second home run of the season, a two-run blast to center, for a 17-0 lead.
The offensive barrage was a welcome sight for Bates, who said his offense had cooled off since its hot start at the beginning of the season.
“Early in the year we were just mashing the ball,” Bates said. “We had lost it for a little while and struggled some. It was great to see it back. It was just one of those nights when everybody was seeing the ball well. If they made contact, it seemed to fall in.”
Fritsch went 3-for-4 with four RBI and Collins went 2-for-2 with two RBI while reaching base in all five plate appearances.
Ward went 2-for-2 with three RBI, Jackson went 2-for-2 with three runs and Wright went 2-for-3 with three RBI to lead the Eagles.
Troy’s Jordan Hayes went 2-for-2 and Zach Lynch drove in both Trojan runs.
Coming off district wins against Lago Vista and Florence, the Trojans struggled from the start. Troy walked six batters and didn’t have a runner until the third, when the Trojans already were behind 17-0.
“If we make some routine plays early, that would have helped the cause,” Troy coach Steve Sebesta said. “Baseball is a funny game. There’s not much to say about that one. I don’t think we played well in any aspect of the game.”
Troy will host Rosebud-Lott on Tuesday while Salado hosts Florence.
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
