And for the second straight night, a lack of offense against No. 4-ranked Lexington doomed any chances of extending the series.
Thanks to another dominant pitching performance, Lexington completed a sweep of Rogers with a 5-0 win Friday night at Nelson Field to close out a 2A Region IV quarterfinal playoff series that was a rematch of the same round a year ago.
Rogers, which had eight underclassmen in its starting lineup throughout the playoffs, finished with a 26-10 record after its fifth consecutive trip to the regional quarterfinals. The Eagles had won their last 10 playoff series dating to 2005.
One night after Lexington ace Robert Spitzenberger limited Rogers to win the opener 2-1 Thursday, No. 2 starter Brian Tiemann, held the young Eagles at bay for most of the night.
Tiemann allowed just three hits, struck out four batters and walked three. Rogers had base runners in five innings but stranded six, including a pair in the third and seventh.
“We had our chances to do some things in this series,” Rogers coach Craig Coheley said. “We just didn’t take advantage of them.”
Hitting and scoring runs hasn’t come easy for a young Rogers team this year. Rogers appeared to turn the corner in the playoffs, scoring more than seven runs per game in its first five postseason outings.
But Rogers struggled against Lexington’s experienced, senior-laden pitching staff. Rogers had four hits and one run in 14 innings in the series.
“Going in, because we’re so young, we worked our tails off on pitching and defense,” Coheley said. “When you’re young, hitting’s going to be the thing that takes the most time to develop.”
Rogers starter Travis Perkins (6-3) was able to keep the opposing offense off the scoreboard as well as Tiemann did until Lexington broke the game open in the top of the sixth.
Perkins had retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced before he gave up a towering home run to Lexington center fielder Michael Kieffer to lead off the sixth. Kieffer’s shot, at least 360 feet to right field, gave Lexington a 1-0 lead.
Lexington followed the homer with a double by Reagan Janda, which ended the night for Perkins.
“I thought Travis pitched well for five innings,” Coheley said. “He made one bad pitch and it kind of snowballed on us.”
In five innings, sophomore right-hander Perkins allowed six hits, struck out two and walked none.
Reliever Gregory Mendoza came on but walked the first two batters he faced to load the bases. Mendoza threw a first-pitch ball to Spitzenberger before being replaced.
Sophomore Chance Marek, the third pitcher of the inning, threw a wild pitch that scored Janda and then gave up a two-run double to Spitzenberger to make it 4-0. Marek gave up another single but retired the next three batters to end the inning.
Lexington tacked on another run in the top of the seventh, keyed by another hit by Janda.
Lexington’s third baseman and leading hitter, who entered the series batting .486 with 12 homers, was 5-for-7 with two runs scored in two games against Rogers.
Rogers’ first series loss in three years came with an ironic twist. A year ago Rogers eliminated Lexington at Nelson in the same round, using similarly dominating pitching performances.
Alan Valenzuela and Taylor Jungmann held Lexington to four hits in a sweep.
“Lexington turned the tables on us, “ Coheley said. “Last year, we were a senior-laden team; this year, we’re very young.”
Rogers will lose two players - pitching ace Dylan Kuehn and left fielder Jerry Dillard - from its playoff roster.
With so much returning experience on the field and on the mound, Rogers might have pieces to make another run at a second state title in 2009.
“We’ve got a great, great core to build around,” Coheley said. “This year has been a very good year for us."
AUSTIN - Rogers’ reign as Class 2A baseball state champion is over.
And for the second straight night, a lack of offense against No. 4-ranked Lexington doomed any chances of extending the series.
Thanks to another dominant pitching performance, Lexington completed a sweep of Rogers with a 5-0 win Friday night at Nelson Field to close out a 2A Region IV quarterfinal playoff series that was a rematch of the same round a year ago.
Rogers, which had eight underclassmen in its starting lineup throughout the playoffs, finished with a 26-10 record after its fifth consecutive trip to the regional quarterfinals. The Eagles had won their last 10 playoff series dating to 2005.
One night after Lexington ace Robert Spitzenberger limited Rogers to win the opener 2-1 Thursday, No. 2 starter Brian Tiemann, held the young Eagles at bay for most of the night.
Tiemann allowed just three hits, struck out four batters and walked three. Rogers had base runners in five innings but stranded six, including a pair in the third and seventh.
“We had our chances to do some things in this series,” Rogers coach Craig Coheley said. “We just didn’t take advantage of them.”
Hitting and scoring runs hasn’t come easy for a young Rogers team this year. Rogers appeared to turn the corner in the playoffs, scoring more than seven runs per game in its first five postseason outings.
But Rogers struggled against Lexington’s experienced, senior-laden pitching staff. Rogers had four hits and one run in 14 innings in the series.
“Going in, because we’re so young, we worked our tails off on pitching and defense,” Coheley said. “When you’re young, hitting’s going to be the thing that takes the most time to develop.”
Rogers starter Travis Perkins (6-3) was able to keep the opposing offense off the scoreboard as well as Tiemann did until Lexington broke the game open in the top of the sixth.
Perkins had retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced before he gave up a towering home run to Lexington center fielder Michael Kieffer to lead off the sixth. Kieffer’s shot, at least 360 feet to right field, gave Lexington a 1-0 lead.
Lexington followed the homer with a double by Reagan Janda, which ended the night for Perkins.
“I thought Travis pitched well for five innings,” Coheley said. “He made one bad pitch and it kind of snowballed on us.”
In five innings, sophomore right-hander Perkins allowed six hits, struck out two and walked none.
Reliever Gregory Mendoza came on but walked the first two batters he faced to load the bases. Mendoza threw a first-pitch ball to Spitzenberger before being replaced.
Sophomore Chance Marek, the third pitcher of the inning, threw a wild pitch that scored Janda and then gave up a two-run double to Spitzenberger to make it 4-0. Marek gave up another single but retired the next three batters to end the inning.
Lexington tacked on another run in the top of the seventh, keyed by another hit by Janda.
Lexington’s third baseman and leading hitter, who entered the series batting .486 with 12 homers, was 5-for-7 with two runs scored in two games against Rogers.
Rogers’ first series loss in three years came with an ironic twist. A year ago Rogers eliminated Lexington at Nelson in the same round, using similarly dominating pitching performances.
Alan Valenzuela and Taylor Jungmann held Lexington to four hits in a sweep.
“Lexington turned the tables on us, “ Coheley said. “Last year, we were a senior-laden team; this year, we’re very young.”
Rogers will lose two players - pitching ace Dylan Kuehn and left fielder Jerry Dillard - from its playoff roster.
With so much returning experience on the field and on the mound, Rogers might have pieces to make another run at a second state title in 2009.
“We’ve got a great, great core to build around,” Coheley said. “This year has been a very good year for us.”
rschneider@temple-telegram.com
