Burnet baseball beats Robinson for bi-district title

CAPTION: Will Johnson and the Burnet Bulldogs win their first bi-district championship under the direction of head coach Russell Houston. Photo by Stennis Shotts

The Burnet High School baseball team didn’t allow anything to keep the Bulldogs from sweeping Waco Robinson May 3 for a bi-district title.

The Bulldogs (28-4, 13-2 District 24-4A champions) gutted out a 4-3 win in game one and kept their focus through a 90-minute lightning delay to shutout the Rockets 10-0 in game two and finish the series.

Burnet will meet Giddings in the area round of the playoffs at Georgetown East View. Game one is at 7 p.m. Friday, May 10, while game two is at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 11. Game three, if necessary, will follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of the second contest.

Against Robinson, the Bulldogs showcased their maturity, their commitment to succeed no matter what, and their trust in knowing they’ll find a way to get it done.

“For the kiddos, I’m so excited,” Houston said. “They have been through a lot. For them to have the ability to get past the first round is huge.”

He called game one “intense” where the Bulldogs set the tone in the first inning.

Trey Morrow hit a two-out single then went home on a RBI double by Dash Denton. Alex Cantrill followed with a RBI double to score Denton.

The Rockets answered by plating three runs in the third.

Both teams made routine play after play after play until the bottom of the seventh inning.

Cantrill drew a lead-off walk and moved to second on a bunt. Khris Kassner hit to left field for the game-tying RBI. Trenton Park hit to left to score Kassner for the win.

“In the seventh inning, we found a way,” Houston said.

Denton was the winning pitcher and 30 minutes later, he went to catcher as teammate Kade Shaw went to the mound. But Burnet was the visiting team.

Lead-off batter Noah Crawford drew a walk to begin the contest and went home on a RBI double by Trey Morrow to score all the runs Shaw needed.

“When you have all the momentum from the first game and you can score right off the bat, it sets the tone,” Houston said.

Shaw followed that by “getting three quick outs in the bottom of the first inning.”

By the end of four innings, Burnet led 5-0. Then Mother Nature intervened with what turned out to be about a 90-minute lightning delay.

The Bulldogs went through a weather delay last year. Houston called that an invaluable learning experience that paid off this season.

“After the delay, we came out with a lot of momentum,” the coach said.

Colton Stafford hit a double off the wall, while Kassner hit a triple into the gap, and Gilbert Valdez scored Kassner.

“The floodgates opened,” Houston said.

Meanwhile, Shaw made sure they didn’t open for Robinson.

“Kade was able to go out and throw,” the coach said. “We jumped out to an early lead and gave them no hope. We took full advantage of being the visitors and kept it going.”

Houston was complimentary of Robinson, pointing out the Rockets fought.

“They were a solid team,” he said. “They didn’t make many mistakes. Their pitcher threw strikes.”

While Houston was happy for the players and the program, he indicated no one is tired of going to practices and playing.

“It’s exciting,” he said, “but we’re not done yet.”

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