The Troy Trojans, a team that had matured immensely in the past few weeks, never showed up at all.
Third-ranked Salado pounded Troy’s pitching all over Tiger Field on Friday night and consequently knocked the Trojans right out of the Class 2A baseball playoffs with a 16-2 rout in six innings in a 2A Region IV quarterfinal playoff game to win the season series with their District 25-2A rivals.
“Our guys kind of felt like they had something to prove,” said Salado coach Melvin Bates, whose Eagles whipped Troy 20-2 earlier in the year before losing 5-2 in a lightning-shortened game. “We have confidence in our hitting and we know we can hit with anybody.”
Salado (26-5), the 25-2A champion, advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time since 1998 and will play Odem or Geronimo Navarro next week. Odem leads 1-0 with the series scheduled to conclude today.
Troy, 25-2A’s third-place team, ended its season 18-10 after winning one-game playoffs against Trinity and Danbury.
Every mistake by the Trojans seemed to open the floodgates for the Eagles’ high-powered offense. No. 5 hitter Johnny Nix was the sparkplug for three Salado onslaughts.
Leading off the second inning, Nix was hit by a pitch, stole second base and eventually scored on a wild pitch by Troy ace Jake McMurtry for a 1-0 lead.
In the next eight pitches, the Eagles strung together consecutive hits by Justin Berumen, Josh Coleman, Tyler Wright, Seth Collins and Matt Fritsch for a 4-0 lead, ending McMurtry’s night early.
Senior right-hander McMurtry (9-3), who pitched every inning in the Trojans’ first two playoff games, allowed four runs on five hits in 30 pitches to close out his outstanding Troy career.
“Every time I threw a strike they hit it hard and every time I threw a ball it led to a run,” said McMurtry, who later said the Salado lineup was the best he’d ever faced. “We just didn’t come ready to play tonight.”
In the third, Nix singled and went to second on a balk by reliever Josh Fredrick. Berumen lined the ball back to Fredrick, who tried to throw out Nix at third but instead threw the ball into left field for a 5-0 lead.
The Eagles proceeded to score four more times in the inning, with No. 9 hitter Wright delivering his second two-run double for a 9-0 lead. Wright went 2-for-3 with five runs batted in.
“Our pitching wasn’t there,” Troy coach Steve Sebesta said. “Our defense wasn’t there and obviously we weren’t ready to play.”
Once again in the sixth, Nix singled to start a six-run inning highlighted by Justin Schiller’s two-run double to complete the scoring.
“It was just one of those nights for me,” said Nix, who went 3-for-3, scored three runs and reached base all four times. “We don’t see the pitcher. We are just seeing the ball and right now our confidence is overflowing.”
The Eagles had 15 hits, including seven doubles, and every player had at least one hit. Along with Nix’s three-hit effort and Wright’s two-hit game, Berumen went 3-for-4 and Collins went 2-for-4.
Salado’s season had ended the past two years in the regional quarterfinal round, but there was no stopping the Eagles from overcoming that hurdle on Friday.
“We have a baseball (sign) outside our stadium and there is a list of quite a few area champions, so it’s been a while,” Bates said. “It kind of gets a load off our back. We definitely had plans coming into the season to get past this round.”
Troy’s magical playoff run that consisted of winning the coin flip and playing one game three successive weeks came to a screeching halt. The Trojans managed just three hits and left eight runners on base, including leaving the bases loaded in the second inning.
“It was a great season for us because our sophomores really grew up,” Sebesta said. “We won’t let this overshadow what we’ve accomplished this season.”
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
