Burnet baseball guts out win over Lampasas

CAPTION: Burnet senior pitcher Kade Shaw gets the job done in a crucial contest against Lampasas to ensure the Bulldogs win the District 24-4A series. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Burnet High School baseball team defeated Lampasas 2-1 April 2 in District 24-4A.

“I knew going into it, it wasn’t going to be a 10-0 game,” head coach Russell Houston said. “The wind was blowing 25-30 mph. We didn’t make them make outs (on balls not hit directly to the Badgers). Finding ways to win is what it’s all about. It’s not going to be pretty all the time. It’s about doing the little things that allow you to win.”

Noah Crawford came home on a pass ball in the first inning. Gilbert Valdez drew a walk with the bases loaded to bring Matthew Valdez home.

“It’s hard to score runs,” Houston said. “We had runners all over the place and didn’t get hits to blow it open.”

Through six inning, Burnet pitcher Kade Shaw hadn’t allowed a hit. That changed in the seventh inning. A Badger reached on hit by pitch and a teammate hit an RBI to score him.

Lampasas had runners on second and third with one out and Shaw struck out the next two batters to end the contest. Shaw went to the mound with five pitches left before he hit his pitch count, Houston said. Their conversation was for him to be effective and meticulous with each pitch to get sure outs to finish the game.

He ended with 1 earned run off 2 hits with 4 walks and 8 strikeouts.

“It was good for Kade to be in that,” Houston said. “We’ve been up seven or eight or nine (runs with Shaw on the mound). We haven’t been in too many of those (close) battles. It was good for him to fight through the adversity.”

Meanwhile, Lampasas junior pitcher Jonas Andersen was on the mound.

Now that the second round of district play is underway, district coaches believe the 2024 season is tougher than a year ago.

Houston agreed, adding there’s more parity.

“I think everybody in our district has one good pitcher and a couple have a No. 2, who’s pretty good,” he said.

Overall, Houston believes it’s more beneficial for his players to gut out a win like the one against the Badgers.

“I thought we played well defensively,” he added. “We just didn’t get the two-out hits. It was a good baseball game as far as bringing nerve-wrecking moments. Anytime you can win on the road, especially at places that are 20 miles away, is a good thing. Every game in the playoffs are going to be tooth and nail.”

The Burnet-Lampasas series ends at 7 p.m. Friday, April 5.

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