That start combined with impressive pitching by sophomore Chance Marek helped the Eagles make it look easy against the No. 10-ranked Brahmas.
Defending Class 2A state champion Rogers jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a 10-4 win over Hallettsville on Friday night at Nelson Field in the opener of a best-of-three area-round baseball playoff series.
The series will continue at 4 p.m. today at Nelson, with Dylan Kuehn on the mound for Rogers (25-8). If necessary, Game 3 will begin 30 minutes after Game 2 ends.
The Brahmas (20-5), champions of District 28-2A, entered their first series of the playoffs averaging nearly nine runs per game.
To counter that, Rogers coach Craig Coheley knew his Eagles didn’t have time to play it safe.
“We knew Hallettsville could swing the bats, so our objective from the start was to go out and score runs every inning,” Coheley said. “We talked about trying to win every inning.”
Rogers scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning on a triple to right field by sophomore Travis Perkins. The Eagles tacked on a run in the second and led 3-0.
But the Brahma bats that Coheley feared came to life in the bottom of the inning. Hallettsville scored three runs to tie the game at 3.
Marek (4-3) settled down after that, allowing just one run and one hit in the next 3 1/3 innings.
Marek, who left in the seventh after walking two of the first three batters, allowed four runs and four hits and struck out five.
“Chance did a good job - he’s a real competitor,” Coheley said. “He’s the kind of kid that you can throw on the mound and not worry about him. Every inning he gives it what he’s got.
“I thought (assistant) Coach (Nash) Fares called a good game with our pitchers tonight,” Coheley added.
Rogers answered in the Brahmas’ rally in the top of third, blowing the game open with a five-run inning.
After a leadoff double to right by first baseman Cameron Doskocil, the Eagles got back-to-back RBI hits by Stephen Hines and Perkins to take a 5-3 lead.
Hines, who was 4-for-8 with seven RBI in Rogers’ bi-district series against New Waverly, continued to swing a hot bat Friday. The sophomore designated hitter finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run.
Four batters later, left fielder Jerry Dillard smacked a two-out single that scored Dustin Hamilton, who reached on an error and Ryan Fares. Shortstop Gregory Mendoza followed Dillard’s single with his own RBI hit to make it 8-3.
Rogers added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to stretch its lead.
The Eagles, who weren’t a high-scoring team in the regular season, have scored 10 runs or more in their last three games.
But at an expansive Nelson Field that features a hill that stretches from center field to the right-field corner, any hit to the outfield is liable to be at least a double.
And Rogers certainly took advantage. Seven of the nine Eagles in the lineup had at least one hit.
“Dustin Hamilton had two big hits - that got us going up the down the lineup,” Coheley said of his catcher. “Stephen Hines stayed hot, Cameron Doskocil once again had a big hit. It was a team effort. Everybody found a way to contribute.”
But to finish off the ranked Bramhas, the Eagles know they’ll need to match the intensity of a Hallettsville squad facing elimination.
“We have to come and match them tomorrow,” Coheley said. “They’re facing elimination. They’ve got a good club. They’re going to try and force us into Game 3 and we’ve got to go above and beyond that to take it away from them.”
rschneider@temple-telegram.com
