West advances to 2nd straight state championship
Getting to the state tournament in back-to-back years is hard enough. The West Trojans have already accomplished that, and now will have a shot to take it a step further with back-to-back state championship wins after their 6-1 victory over Shallowater in the second 3A semifinal from the Dell Diamond in Round Rock.
Coming into this season, it was known that West was going to have one of the strongest starting pitching staffs in the state. The Trojans returned 3A player of the year Bailey Horn, but in the victory over Shallowater, it was Preston Macik that threw the 7 inning complete game gem, showing off just how deep and talented that staff is.
The only blemish on the pitching line for Macik came in the first as a lead off walk to JD Towsend led to the only run of the game for the Mustangs. The senior was dominant from that point on, finishing the game with 11 strikeouts while giving up only 3 hits.
After the Mustangs took the lead in the first, they were able to hold steady until the top of the third when the Trojans broke though. The inning started out with two quick outs before 2-hole hitter Tristan Gonzalez would single to left to put a man aboard. Macik and Horn would both walk, loading the bases for catcher Dalton Wiethorn. After a passed ball tied the game, and single by the junior gave West their first lead of the contest, 3-1.
West would add on 3 more insurance runs in the 6th. Freshmen Tyler Kaluza would lay down an excellent bunt down the first base line to drive in the fourth run before Paxton singled to drive in two more to give West all the cushion they would need.
Shallowater starting pitcher Ryan Kotulek did pitch 5.1 innings, giving up 7 hits and 5 earned runs while striking out 9.
Top Hitting Performances
Griffin Paxton, West, 2-4, 2 RBI
Dalton Wiethorn, West, 1-2, 1 BB, 2 RBI
JD Townsend, Shallowater, 2-2, 1 BB, 1 R
Top Pitching Performances
Preston Macik, West, 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 11 K
Tyler Cornett, Shallowater, 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| West | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 1 |
| Shallowater | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
