How Calallen baseball's 'energy' and 'heart' is fueling another deep playoff run

Calallen baseball didn't leave much doubt about its determination to close out Needville on Friday night.

The Wildcats scored four runs in the opening inning and then Calallen's pitching and defense did the rest in a 9-0 victory to sweep a Class 4A regional semifinal series with Needville.

The early runs put some pressure on the Blue Jays, and had them chasing the rest of the contest. Meanwhile, the Wildcats closed out a third series in the playoffs in two games, using their young pitching staff to shut a team down while the squad's bats came to life this series.

Through two games in the series, the Wildcats scored 17 runs and pounded out 18 hits, but veterans coach Steve Chapman is seeing a consistent energy from the ballclub.

"The heart and energy and excitement that they play with is one of the reasons that they are where they are," Chapman said after Friday's victory.

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Surging in the first

The Wildcats (34-9) took advantage of two walks and a hit batter to load the bases with one out. Drayton Mitchell, who started the game on the mound, was hit by a pitch to bring in the first run and the gates opened. RJ Cruz smacked an RBI single to center and then Justin Calderon, who was 2-for-6 in the series and drove in four runs, hit another single to center to score two runs and the Wildcats had a 4-0 lead.

Calallen sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning. They followed up with two more runs in the second and another one in the third to help keep the Blue Jays at bay. Then added two more in the sixth for some insurance.

"The pitcher struggled early and we really capitalized off that, scoring those four runs in the first really got momentum going for the rest of the game," said sophomore designated hitter Blake Quinn, who finished the day 2 for 3 with an RBI.

The Wildcats had eight hits in the game as Quinn and leadoff hitter Drayson Gamez each had two in the victory and six of the nine players in the lineup had at least one run batted in.

Pitching again comes through

Calallen starter Drayton Mitchell saw some base traffic in the first three innings with two runners on in the first and third for the Blue Jays, but the sophomore lefthander was able to work out of both situations. He finished the game, scattering five hits with six strikeouts and one walk in throwing the shutout.

"We are playing really good defense and our pitching has been outstanding," Chapman said. "I think that our kids just pretty much play on an even keel on that part, they work really hard at hitting and work really hard at every phase of the game. I'm not surprised that we did hit the ball a lot better."

Up next

The Wildcats will take on Boerne, who swept Bishop earlier in the day, in the Region IV-4A final at a time, date and place to be determined.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Calallen baseball slugs way past Needville to 4A regional final