H.S. Baseball: Stephenville mauls Midland Greenwood, rolls into region finals

Stephenville made its mark a long time ago as a football power. The Yellow Jackets play pretty good baseball now, too.

Just ask Levelland, Krum and Graham – all swept by Stephenville in the playoffs this season.

You can add Midland Greenwood to the list.

Stephenville jumped on Greenwood for an early 8-0 lead, and Gabe Elms scattered five hits as the Yellow Jackets finished off the Rangers 9-2 to sweep the Region I-4A semifinal series Saturday at ACU’s Crutcher Scott Field.

Stephenville (27-12-1), which beat Greenwood 6-3 in the series’ opener Wednesday, advances to play Canyon Randall (36-3) in the region finals next week.

It’s the Yellow Jackets’ third consecutive trip to the region finals. They made their first state tournament appearance in 2021, after sweeping Arygle in the region finals.

Arygle swept Stephenville in the region finals last year but made the move to 5A this season. The Eagles will play for a region title next week against Lubbock-Cooper.

“There’s high expectations on this program now,” Stephenville coach Justin Swenson said. “We’ve spoiled some people over the last three or four years. Having high expectations is a good thing, because it means you’re a good program and people expect greatness out of you.”

Youngsters step up

Stephenville turned the sophomore Elms on Saturday, and he turned in a solid performance. He struck out two and walked one in the complete-game victory.

“A lot of people forget that I had a full sophomore battery there – a catcher and a pitcher and a second baseman,” Swenson said. “I can think of two sophomores that have started for us in the last four years, and I got three on the field today and headed to the regional finals with them.”

One of those sophomores – second baseman Mason Weyers – contributed to the Jackets’ 12-hit attack with two hits, including an RBI double in a four-run second inning. He also scored twice.

It was Stephenville’s offense that made the day a whole lot easier for Elms.

The Jackets jumped on Greenwood for two runs in the first inning. KB Bowman, the game’s first batter, was hit by a pitch. He stole second with one out and took third on a two-out wild pitch. Bowman scored on Haiden Rudloff’s infield hit, and Mason Haynes followed with a single to right. An error on the play allowed Rudloff to score.

Stephenville kept the pressure on, scoring four runs in the second. Weyer hit a one-out single and took second on an error. Tanner Smith, Stephenville’s sophomore catcher, singled but was forced out at second on Cason Heller’s ground ball to short. Weyer scored on the play.

Then after Bowman walked, Eli Hiitola and Nate Barry hit consecutive triples with two scoring on Hiitola’s hit and one on Barry’s hit for an 6-0 lead.

The Jackets added two more runs in the third for an 8-0 advantage. Tyler Hicks singled and took second on an error. He scored on Weyers’ double, and Weyers came around to score on Heller’s two-out infield hit.

Blowing in the wind

A thunderstorm delayed the 1 p.m. start by 45 minutes, and the wind was blowing in from the east, southeast.

Stephenville adjusted its game accordingly.

“We saw the conditions. The wind was blowing straight in,” Swenson said. “We knew that they had a contact pitcher, kind of like what we were throwing against them – kind of a slow lefty that causes fly balls. … So, we had a game plan of finding a lot of barrels. When we do miss, hit balls on the ground.

“We got away with some soft choppers they had to come up and make plays on and threw some tough plays away. When we needed the big hit, we found a couple of doubles and triples in there that scored us a lot of runs.

Rangers miss big innings

Greenwood got a run in the bottom of the third. Hudson Grace led off with a single, and Zac Rybolt reached on an error. Grace scored on Jaxon Ramos’ single.

Elms avoided more trouble by striking out Johnny Mason looking with runners at second and third before getting Rylan Dominquez to line out to third.

Ramos added a two-out, RBI double in the fifth for the Rangers’ final run.

Stephenville got its last run in the seventh. Barry and Rudloff opened the inning with consecutive singles, and Barry scored when Haynes hit into a double play.

Greenwood left six runners stranded – five in scoring position. The Rangers loaded the bases with one out in the first and got nothing as Elms got a strikeout and fly ball to left.

Matchups matter

Elms' effort underscored Stephenville’s pitching depth.

“It’s awesome,” Swenson said of Elms' outing. “At any given point, we can throw somebody out on that mound. We’ve got five guys that we’ve got full trust in. We’re able to look at matchups and what suits us best rather than just throwing a one out and two out and rotating through that.

“When we show up to the ballpark, the opposing team really has no clue who we’re going to throw at them. That’s a great thing about having a deep staff like we have. They all pitch to contact. They all throw strikes and let us work behind them.”

Now, Stephenville faces a Randall team that has thrived since dropping down from Class 5A this season. The Raiders have won 32 consecutive games and outscored opponents 86-12 in the playoffs.

Stephenville, which has won 16 straight games, has outscored its postseason foes 66-17.

Now, one of the two will notch their program’s second trip to state. Randall was a state semifinalist in 2007.

“We’re definitely going to be tested,” Swenson said. “The team on the other side of the bracket is stinking good. … We’re going to celebrate this one and worry about those guys tomorrow.”

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Stephenville sweeps Midland Greenwood in Region I-4A baseball semifinals