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Been there, done that: Wakeland victorious in two straight for series win over Waxahachie
BY CHRIS O'DELL, codell@starlocalnews.com
FRISCO -- Wakeland had no reason to panic after dropping Game 1 (2-0) of a best-of-3 set against Waxahachie on Thursday.
The Wolverines had already been in that position during the regional quarterfinals against Highland Park and ultimately prevailed with a series win after taking the final two games of the matchup.
Saturday played out in a similar fashion with Wakeland earning a 2-0 victory in Game 2 before hitting its way into the regional semifinals with a 7-1 win in the third and decisive game against the Indians.
After senior hurler Willie Schwanke earned the win in Game 2 at Dr Pepper Ballpark, junior Cameron Brockhoff was given the task of sealing the deal in the third meeting between the two teams.
Brockhoff, who earned the win in Game 3 of the regional quarterfinals after tossing six scoreless innings in relief, pitched a gem for the Wolverines and allowed his offense to take care of business.
"[Brockhoff] did a good job last week and so we figured lets go with the hot hand," Rose said.
The junior righty retired the first six batters he faced and struck out four of them.
The quick work on the mound allowed the Wolverines to put together a two-out rally in the home half of the second inning when first baseman Johnny Gonzalez and shortstop Grant Devore each had singles off Waxahachie junior starter Marshall Herron.
Brockhoff then helped his own cause with an RBI single in the following at bat that allowed Wakeland to score two runs in the inning for an early 2-0 lead.
Despite getting into a bases-loaded jam during the third inning, Brockhoff kept the Indians from scoring by getting senior outfielder Blake Gonzalez to pop up in foul territory before ending the inning on a ground out from junior designated hitter David Villarreal.
Brockhoff would get into another jam during the fourth inning after allowing consecutive one-out singles to seniors Ryan Cawthon and Nick Garvin.
Much like the third inning, Brockhoff worked his way out of trouble by retiring the final two batters of the inning to leave two men on base.
With Wakeland already leading 3-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth, the Wolverines put the game out of reach with a four-run inning to go ahead 7-0.
The inning began when Devore was hit by a Herron pitch before Brockhoff made Waxahachie pay for the mistake during the next at bat by belting an RBI double to deep left field for one of his two hits in the game.
Herron left the game after pitching three-plus innings and surrendering six runs on six hits and one walk.
Outfielder Dan Harrington followed Brockhoff's hit with an RBI single of his own to put Wakeland ahead by five runs.
After senior Hayden Nixon reached base on an error, Ryan Perry and Schwanke each drove in a run to make it 7-0 in favor of Wakeland with Perry adding one of his two hits in the game during the inning.
Brockhoff then closed the door on Waxahachie by going the distance and allowing only one run on four hits while fanning eight hitters during his seven innings on the mound.
"[Brockhoff] goes out and competes," Rose said. "He attacks the strike zone."
The victory put Wakeland's season mark at 29-11 and sets up a regional finals matchup against Rockwall-Heath.
"[Heath] is a very good team," Rose said. "We're not feeling any pressure though. We just have to go out and compete. We're two wins from Round Rock now."
Wakeland's Game 3 victory came after a dominant performance from Schwanke in the second game of the series earlier in the day.
The senior was one strike away from a no-hitter before Cawthon singled for Waxahachie's only hit of the game.
Schwanke, who allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out seven hitters in seven innings of work, dominated the Indians on the hill to give the Wolverines a 2-0 victory in the game.
Wakeland scored its first run of the day during the bottom of the third inning when Perry came to the plate with runners on the corners and just one out.
Rose then called for a suicide squeeze that worked to perfection and allowed Harrington to reach home with ease.
"We wanted to get a run early," Rose said. "We always play better when we get ahead early in the game."
The Wolverines would add their second run of the game during the fifth inning when Nixon roped an RBI single to score Brockhoff, who singled to lead off the inning.
Although Cawthon would go the distance on the mound for Waxahachie, the senior took a tough loss after giving up just two runs on five hits and one walk.
Meanwhile, Schwanke retired the first 13 batters he faced and took a perfect game into the fifth inning before Cawthon drew a five-pitch walk for Waxahachie's first base runner.
Schwanke would end the game just three over the minimum, needing less than 100 pitches for the complete game shutout.
"He threw a heck of a game," Rose said. "He kept them off balance all day long."
Rose said he hoped the dominance would continue into the third and decisive game to ultimately put Wakeland one series win away from state.
"I just wanted that momentum to carry over," he said.
Wakeland will now look to avoid becoming the third District 9-4A team to fall to Heath in the playoffs.
Frisco and Centennial combined to go 1-4 against Heath during the bi-district and regional quarterfinals rounds, respectively.
Specifics for Wakeland and Heath's regional finals meeting had not been determined as of press time.
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