Dillon Newman and the errorless defense never flinched.
That blueprint for success never seems to get old for the Belton Tigers.
Hoelscher was a triple short of the cycle, including a three-run home run, and Newman allowed six hits as the Tigers rolled past Dallas White 9-2 Tuesday night in a Class 5A area-round playoff game.
“The defense was the key. They played great throughout,” first-year Belton coach Eddie Cornblum said. “(On offense) I’ve always thought if you can occupy second base every inning, you have a great chance to win and we did that tonight.
“Our kids played hard tonight. It was a great win for us.”
Belton (23-7) advanced to the 5A Region II quarterfinals for the first time since 2005. The Tigers will play Tyler Lee (23-2-2), which beat Garland Sachse 5-2 on Tuesday, in a best-of-three series beginning Thursday and continuing with Game 2 on Saturday at a site and time to be determined today.
White finished 23-6.
Hoelscher went 3-for-4 with four RBI, including his seventh homer of the season. John Nieberding went 2-for-2 and reached base five times, Justin Dechert was 3-for-4 and Jarrett Crowell went 2-for-5.
Belton left 15 runners on base but put the leadoff batter on base and had at least two runners in every inning.
“We came through enough to put runs on the board when it matters,” said junior shortstop Hoelscher, who was the Tigers’ catalyst.
On the first pitch of the game, White starter Reid Scoggins (7-2), who entered Tuesday with an 0.89 earned-run average, hit Hoelscher in the head. Belton eventually left the bases loaded, but that set the tone.
Dechert and Crowell singled to start the second, and with one out Hoelscher blasted a 2-0 fastball for a three-run homer over the 365-foot sign in left-center field for a 3-0 lead.
“That really made a statement right off the bat and the kids kept plugging away,” Cornblum said.
With the Tigers leading 3-2 in the fourth, Hoelscher led off with a single to right, then alertly advanced to second when second baseman Aaron Cypert threw the ball past Scoggins. Nieberding walked and Garrett Vail eventually doubled home Hoelscher for a 4-2 lead. Vail’s double ended Scoggins’ night, during which he allowed four earned runs and threw 80 pitches in 3 1/3 innings.
Nieberding later scored in the inning when Kevin Thornton struck out but Longhorns catcher Carlos Contreras threw wide of first.
In the sixth, Hoelscher’s RBI double off the bottom of the wall brought home Crowell, Brett Hernandez scored on Newman’s walk and Nieberding scored on Thornton’s sacrifice fly for an 8-2 lead.
“He’s in a zone,” Cornblum said of Hoelscher. “You get a guy like that and you know something is going to happen.”
Asked how he feels at the plate, Hoelscher responded: “Really awesome.”
Newman fought off jams in the second, third and fifth innings to preserve the lead and the momentum.
In the second, Newman allowed a single to Contreras and an RBI triple to David McKenzie, who later scored on Cypert’s groundout to trim the lead to 3-2.
In the third, he coaxed McKenzie to line out to Hernandez. In the fifth, third baseman John Beck snared a grounder to get a forceout at second and Newman fielded Contreras’ grounder and ran to first for the final out to leave runners on second and third.
“I just have to have confidence in my stuff,” said junior right-hander Newman (8-4), who threw 89 pitches. “I had my stuff working today. First-pitch curveball is what we were calling and I was hitting it. I’m loving that pitch.”
In the sixth, Vail tossed to first baseman Nieberding to pick off a runner and pitcher Nick Wright ended the game by starting a 1-6-3 double play.
Said Cornblum: “You couldn’t ask for a better game.”
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
