ROUND ROCK – For the first time since 2005, the Smithson Valley baseball team took the field at Dell Diamond for the UIL Class 6A State semifinals.
Unfortunately, their stay in Round Rock was short-lived.
The Rangers allowed five runs on eight hits over the first three innings and couldn’t quite recover from an early deficit, and their season ends with a 8-4 loss to Rockwall Heath on Friday night. Smithson Valley finished with a 35-6 overall record.
“We had a chance to make a play here or there, but the difference was that Heath was better than us,” head coach Chad Koehl said. “They swing those sticks really well. Their kid on the mound did well. Unfortunately, it happens in the game of baseball. You want to play your best at the end. We didn’t play bad tonight, but we didn’t play good enough.”
Trailing 5-0 in the bottom of the third inning, the Rangers got on the scoreboard thanks to a sacrifice fly from Kasen Wells and an RBI ground out from Tim Arguello. The score then remained 5-2 for the next two innings until Rockwall broke the game open with a three-run 6th. The Rangers plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the 7th, but the six-run deficit was too much to overcome.
“It was special,” senior Brandon Taylor said. “It was definitely a fun ride. It sucks to end, but it was a lot of fun being a part of it, and I couldn’t ask to do it with anyone else.”
“It was a crazy journey,” sophomore Jackson Elizondo explained. “I never thought we’d get this far. It’s crazy how much I love these guys and it’s the last game we’re going to play together.”