The Ropes Eagles faced off against the Burton Panthers in the 2A Division 2 Baseball State Championship this past Thursday at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, resulting in the Eagles falling 6-1 across seven innings.
Burton got on the board first with a first-inning run, which Ropes responded to with a run of their own in the top of the fourth inning before Burton scored five unanswered runs to secure the win.
In the team statistics, Burton bested Ropes 9-5 in hits, 2-1 in walks and 1-2 in errors committed.
The Eagles standouts at the plate included center fielder Jaivyth Cruz going 1/ 3 with a run-batted-in, first baseman Cason Kucel going 2/3, pitcher Elijah Flores going 1/3, left fielder Branson Simental going ½ and shortstop Ryland Kieth with a run scored, walk and a stolen base.
On the mound for the Eagles, Flores, Cutter Stumbo and Kade Franklin shared the workload. Flores pitched two innings, surrendering one earned run on two hits and a walk; Stumbo pitched three innings, surrendering one earned run on six hits and one walk while striking out a batter; and Kade Franklin pitched a scoreless inning on one hit while striking out two batters.
Following the game, Ropes Head Baseball Coach Nathan Flores talked about what the ultimate difference was in the loss.
“I thought we did a good job after settling down from the early nerves of playing on such a big stage. I could sense that some of our guys were feeling the championship pressure, but I thought our guys handled it well. Defensively, I felt our guys played well and battled through some errors we normally don’t make,” Coach Flores said. “The biggest difference in the game was batting. We didn’t capitalize when we had runners in scoring position and Burton did. Credit to Tyler Witt (Burton’s starter). The kid pitched a great game and is a heck of a ball player. We never could get into a rhythm. I do want to credit our bottom half of the lineup; those guys did a great job picking us up when we needed it.”
Although it’s a bittersweet ending, the Eagles can be proud of everything they accomplished this season, finishing at 30-6 overall as the Co-District Champions, Bi-District Champions, Area Champions, Regional Semifinals Champions, Regional Finals Champions, State Semifinals Champions and State Runner-Up.
Those accomplishments are nothing to hang their head over, which Coach Flores reciprocated.
“It was a great run and one that was well deserved by this group. These guys have put in a lot of work over the last few years, and it was good to see them reap the benefits from tireless work and effort,” Coach Flores said. “It was also nice to be able to allow our school, community and Ropes Nation to enjoy some success at the State level. We have been knocking on that door in a lot of our other programs and to be able to allow them to enjoy this kind of success was such a blessing.”