Bulldogs preparing to take on Lake Belton, the district’s top team

The final week of the regular season is upon the Burnet High School baseball team. And that means two more chances to get better before the start of the Class 4A playoffs.

But first the Bulldogs (10-11-1, 7-6) must finish up District 19-4A play against Lake Belton (11-2), which is the champion. They’ll meet at Lake Belton on Tuesday, April 26, and then finish at Burnet’s Bulldog Diamonds, 1000 The Green Mile, on Friday, April 29. First pitch for the varsity is at 4:30 p.m.

“The goals this week are to go win both games,” Burnet head coach Russell Houston said. “That’s the plan. If we can get a split this week, I think it’ll be great for us.”

Though the Broncos won the first game 9-4 March 25, Houston noted the Bulldogs led 3-1 in the fifth inning.

“Everyone on that team can play,” the coach said. “If we can play clean, I think we can play with anybody and have a chance to win it in the end. It’ll be a great week,”

Lake Belton’s top pitcher is lefty Logan Flores, who is expected to start in one of this week’s games.

Burnet is entering the final week of the regular season after a loss to Taylor 6-1 on April 22 where it committed three errors. Pitcher Chris Perez earned the win by striking out 12 batters in seven innings.

“We couldn’t find a way to get out of the sixth inning,” Houston said. “We couldn’t come back and score in the seventh.”

The Ducks scored two runs in the second inning. After the Bulldogs trimmed the deficit thanks to an RBI by Boden Savage in the sixth inning, Taylor scored four more runs in its half of the same inning.

No matter the outcome of the series against Lake Belton, Burnet will finish third in the district standings. It looks like the Bulldogs will face either LaGrange or Smithville out of District 20-4A in the a bi-district championship series. But Houston noted much still must be decided in District 20 this week. Smithville still has a chance to win the district championship with two games remaining, he said. Right now Giddings is the district leader.

Watch videos on Highland Lakes sports by going to Fierro’s YouTube channel and searching for The Broad Podcaster. Please like, subscribe and share.