WAXAHACHIE BASEBALL SPLITS 11-6A WEEK TO OPEN DISTRICT SLATE

By Travis M. Smith | KBEC Sports

An Anthony Mata two-run home run and Casey Kelly’s stellar night on the mound fueled the Waxahachie Indians to a District 11-6A opening victory Tuesday night at home against Cedar Hill.

Unfortunately, the results were mixed for the Waxahachie Indians on the baseball diamond during their opening week of District 11-6A action.

Waxahachie (12-5, 1-1 in 11-6A) hosted Cedar Hill on Tuesday at historic Paul Richards Park and cruised to a tidy 9-0 victory. The Tribe then turned around and fell at home to Duncanville in run-rule fashion, 13-3, on Friday.

To say the Panthers are a scrappy team would be an understatement.

CEDAR HILL
The Indians collected 12 hits and hung a four-spot in each of the first two innings against the visiting Longhorns on Tuesday. All eight runs were charged to the Cedar Hill starting pitcher.

Xavien Thompson laced the second pitch that he saw in the bottom of the first inning into right field to kickstart the offense. Jacob Cruz then walked on four pitches and the two scored when Jared Thomas tripled to straightaway centerfield.

Anthony Matta capped the four-run outburst with his first home run of the season — a poke over the left-centerfield fence on a 1-2 count.

The bottom of the second inning saw catcher Jaxon Crow draw a one-out walk to get the Indians on the basepaths. The sophomore then stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball, with the latter allowing Thompson to move into scoring position following a four-pitch walk.

Cruz then singled into center field to plate both Crow and Thompson and put Waxahachie comfortably on top, 6-0.

Thomas tripled for the second time in the ballgame and scored three pitches later on a Mata sacrifice fly to right field.

Thompson added the final Waxahachie run in the bottom of the third inning after he singled and eventually scored on an error.

As it turned out, the four-run first inning proved to be more than enough run support for starting pitcher Casey Kelly (2-1, 0.75 ERA).

The senior was stellar on the evening, needing just 84 pitches to get through six full innings of work. He struck out seven, walked two and allowed just one harmless single in the fourth inning.

Kelly now has 28 strikeouts to just five walks over 24.0 IP.

Justin Smith tossed a clean seventh inning, allowing one hit and striking out one, to close out the district-opening victory, 9-0.

DUNCANVILLE
Friday at Richards Park was not near as enjoyable for the boys in green as the Indians’ first District 11-6A contest.

The (9-8, 2-0) Duncanville Panthers batted around in the top of the first inning to score four runs and never looked back in the 13-3 run-rule win.

Smith (0-2, 6.00 ERA) took the loss on the bump. He labored through 1.2IP, allowing four runs (all earned) on six hits and one walk. Caleb Perry tossed 4.1 innings in relief but allowed nine runs (6 earned) on seven hits and two walks.

Duncanville scored once in the third inning and eight in the top of the sixth to complete the run-rule.

Thompson and Thomas each recorded doubles and Crow added a first-inning triple. Thomas’ two-bagger to left field came on a six-pitch at-bat in the bottom of the first inning and plated Crow.

Thomas leads the Indians with a .489-batting average, while Thompson boasts a hefty .473 mark.

UP NEXT
Waxahachie returns to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home against Mansfield. KBEC 1390AM/99.1FM will carry the action on-air and online.

For a full broadcast schedule, click here.