Kennard Tigers Baseball Headed to State Championship
(Pictures courtesy of Jon Hobson)
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
KENNARD – For the third year in a row, the Kennard Tiger varsity baseball team are regional champions, headed to the state championship. The regional title comes after the Tigers beat Leverett’s Chapel in a three-game series last week. The state-level championship is set to begin Thursday, June 8 in Round Rock.
The Tigers came into the first game of the regional championship series a favorite, but the first game, played Thursday, May 25 at Rusk High School, didn’t go the way the Tigers wanted.
The game against Leverett’s Chapel Lions was a tough one, as Kennard lost the lead late in a 6-4 defeat. Leverett’s Chapel trailed 4-3 in the top of the fifth inning when Dequincy Brown homered on a 1-1 count, scoring two runs.
The Lions got on the board in the first inning when Brown’s sac fly scored one run before Kennard notched three runs in the fourth inning. Tristan Burgess and Liam McMinn powered the big inning with RBIs.
Jaden Kulms took the loss for Kennard, allowing seven hits and six runs over seven innings, striking out 12 and walking one.
McMinn went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead Kennard in hits.
Now in a “do or die” situation, the Tigers had to win both games two and three played Saturday, May 27. At times in game two, it seemed the Tigers run for the year was in jeopardy. Unable to pitch because of pitch-count rules, Kulms took the role of catcher as Keyton Lumbreraz took the mound. It was only solid, experienced play – and a ton of stolen bases that kept Kennard in the game and in the hunt.
Kulms told The Messenger he knew he would have to play behind the plate for both games.
“I hadn’t worked as catcher very much. But I’ve done it before, so it’s kind of a natural instinct,” Kulms said. “But every time I was going after a ball in the dirt, I knew I had to keep in my head, ‘If I don’t do this, it could cost our team.’ You never want to be the guy that makes your team lose or anything like that. So just having the mindset to do this for my team, not to look good, not to be the man of the hour, just for my team.”
Kennard stole the lead late and defeated Leverett’s Chapel 13-10 in game two. The game was tied at ten with Kennard batting in the top of the seventh when Raymond Espinosa induced Kade Hauck to hit into a fielder’s choice, but one run scored.
Leverett’s Chapel scored six runs in the second inning, with several RBIs and one error.
Lumbreraz earned the victory as he lasted five and two-thirds innings, allowing five hits and seven runs while striking out three. Hauck threw one and one-third innings in relief out of the bullpen.
Espinosa took the loss for Leverett’s Chapel Lions Varsity. The left-hander surrendered six runs on three hits over two and a third innings, striking out one. Dylan Harris started the game for the Lions, lasting four innings, allowing four hits and seven runs.
The Tigers totaled seven hits in the game. Ashton Kammer and Kulms collected multiple hits, each collecting two. Kennard stole 14 bases during the game as four players stole more than one. Kulms led the way with four.
Asked if the stolen bases were the product of a strategy or just taking advantage of situations Kulms said, “I’ll say both. A big advantage for us is we have a lot of speed. Their left-handed pitcher had a good pickoff move, but once we got him down, and we knew their catcher didn’t have a great arm, so we definitely took advantage of that.”
By the time game three began, the mood was different. Any double-header in baseball is a long day but in a high school varsity playoff, there is no deep bullpen, no air conditioning for the fans or coaches, and in game two – neither side wanted to leave anything on that field. Both teams, fans and coaches wearily readied for the “make or break” game three. As it turned out, base stealing, superior ball control and a determination to not quit until the last out gave the Tigers the big win. Not to mention a surprise Kennard had in store for the Lions.
The Messenger was live-streaming the games and was able to speak briefly with Coach Blake Wallace between games two and three. Asked how we was feeling and what the plan was, he blinked and said, “All I will say is we will be fine and rely on one of our freshmen…”
Intrigued, it was interesting to see Freshman Tiger Ashton Kammer on the mound in this most important game three.
The Lions opened up scoring in the first inning, when Dylan Harris singled on the first pitch of the at-bat, scoring two runs.
But the Tigers pulled away for good with three runs in the third inning. Lumbreraz singled on a 1-2 count, scoring one run, Elijah Dowdy singled on a 1-2 count, scoring one run, and Kammer singled on the first pitch of the at bat, scoring one run.
The Tigers ended the game and the regional champ status, 7-3.
Kammer earned the victory on the pitcher’s mound, allowing nine hits and three runs over seven innings, striking out three.
Kennard totaled eight hits in the game. Hauck and Kammer each racked up multiple hits, Hauck leading with three hits in four at bats. The Tigers didn’t commit a single error. Dakota Murray made the most plays with nine.
Now the Tigers head to the State Championship with the motto, “the third time’s the charm.” Kulms said the team is in a good place and confident about the next round.
“I think we’re feeling confident,” Kulms said. “Especially, after coming off these two games, we have momentum rolling into ‘state.’ We’ve worked really, really hard – we’re not here for nothing. We have a lot of blood, sweat and tears that went into this moment. And I think we want it more than ever this year.”
The Messenger can confirm a college scout was in attendance during Saturday’s games and Kulms will be traveling to visit their program this week. We will not yet reveal the details but hope Kulms will soon bring some good news we can make official.
Game one of the state championship will be Wednesday, June 7 at 9 a.m. with game two at 12 p.m. and game three the next day at 9 a.m. All games will be played at Dell Diamond Field in Round Rock.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]