Don’t let Seth Collins get on base. Be careful throwing to Matt Fritsch and Kevin Jackson. Keep Justin Schiller in the ballpark.
But lately, it’s been the spectacular supporting cast of Johnny Nix, Garret Ward, Justin Berumen, Josh Coleman and Tyler Wright that has been providing the thunder for the Eagles’ offensive onslaught.
“The thing about when you get to the bottom half of the order, it’s supposed to be a little weaker,” said Nix, who is second on the team with a .435 average while batting fifth. “In our lineup, top to bottom, it’s really strong. They’ve had a great deal of success the past couple of series.”
Salado’s 5-9 hitters are hitting .457 in the last six games for the Eagles (30-6), who meet No. 8 San Angelo Grape Creek (30-6) at 10 a.m. Wednesday in a University Interscholastic League Class 2A semifinal game at Dell Diamond in Round Rock. The winner advances to the 2A championship game at 2 p.m. Thursday.
A regular-season game against District 25-2A rival Troy on April 8 may have been the turning point.
Salado coach Melvin Bates bumped a slumping Nix, who was batting .365, from his normal No. 2 position to the No. 5 spot in hopes of re-energizing the Salado offense.
“It seemed to have sparked the whole team,” said Bates, whose team is averaging 11.2 runs per game and is 12-2 since the lineup move. “The guys up top have maintained while these guys have continuously raised their average.”
Since the switch, Nix is batting .540 - including 12-for-19 in his last six games - and has starred in his new role.
Against Troy in the Region IV quarterfinals, Nix was hit by a pitch, stole second and eventually came around to score the first run of the game that led to a four-run inning.
In his next at-bat, he singled and scored to start a five-run inning that led the Eagles to a 16-2 romp over their district rivals.
“I was slumping,” said Nix, who also turned a key double play in Game 1 against Odem in the regional semifinals. “Change isn’t always necessarily a bad thing so it kind of got me going.”
No. 7 hitter Berumen, who is 10 for his last 17 and has driven in 10 runs in the last three games, hit a first-inning two-run homer in Game 3 against Odem that gave the Eagles all the momentum they needed to fend off elimination and advance.
His biggest splash was a sixth-inning grand slam that deflated Lexington in Game 1 of the regional finals and sent Salado to the state tournament for the first time since 1986.
“It’s amazing what he (Berumen) and the bottom of our order has done,” Bates said after the sweep of Lexington. “They’ve actually carried us the last two weekends.”
Earlier in that game, Berumen reached first on an error to extend Salado’s third inning. Next up was No. 8 hitter Coleman, whose two-run double to the left-center field gap brought Salado within 6-5.
“The bottom just understands its role,” said Coleman, who is up to .353 in his last six games. “We’re there to come through when we need to.”
Speedy No. 9 hitter Wright had two run-scoring doubles against Troy, an RBI single and a two-run double in Game 3 against Odem and a double that plated the first two runs in Game 1 against Lexington.
And don’t forget about slugger Ward, who is hitting .349 with six home runs, in the sixth spot.
Along with playing solid defense in right field at spacious Dell Diamond last week, Ward doubled home two runs in Game 1 against Odem that put the game out of reach.
“Now that we’ve got this far, we feel the experience of the game and we’re just going to come out and play,” Coleman said. “The bottom of the lineup is there to do a job and it feels like that’s what we’ve been doing.”
