The Salado varsity Eagles baseball team qualified for the playoffs and continued their perfect march through District 25-4A opponents last week with wins over Lampasas and Liberty Hill.

Salado 3

Liberty Hill 0

Salado Eagles shut out the Liberty Hill Panthers on their home field April 15, winning 3-0. Pitcher Cody Wolf threw a two-hitter striking out nine batters in the winning mound appearance.

Preston Payne score led off the game when he was hit by the pitcher. He advanced to third on a double by Chase Basham and scored on a single by Jacob Wilk to give Salado a 1-0 lead.

The Eagles added two more runs in the fifth inning. Basham was hit by the pitcher and went to second on a passed ball. Wilk earned a walk to put runners at the corners with one out. Grant Taylor hit a booming double to left field fence scoring Basham and Wilk.

Drew Dobbinsm Garrett Lightfoot and Phillip Ellis all had singles in the second but Salado could not convert the hits into runs.

Basham hit a triple in the seventh, but was thrown out at home trying to stretch it into a run.
Lampasas 2

Salado 12

Salado Eagles crushed Lampasas in another Mercy Rule-shortened game April 12, winning 12-2 in five innings at home.

The Eagles scored four runs in the first. Preston Payne led off the bottom of the first with a walk. He stole second and third, scoring on a passed ball.  Cody Wolf walked, Jacob Wilk reached on an error and Ryan Dunnahoo walked to load the bases. Grant Taylor doubled to deep right, scoring two runners. Dunnahoo scored on a walk.

Salado added a run in the second. Wolf singled, followed by a single by Wilk to put runners at the corners. Dunnahoo flied out to deep center to score Wolf.

Three more Eagles crossed the plate in the third inning. Payne singled and scored on a homer by Chase Basham. Wolf doubled, went to third on a passed ball and scored on an error.

The Eagles made the score 12-2 in the fourth. Drew Dobbins singled and stole second. A single to deep left by Lightfoot allowed Dobbins to score on the throw. Lightfoot stole second and third, Payne walked and Basham’s smashing triple to right put him across the plate.

Dobbins got the win on the mound for Salado. He struck out eight batters and gave up three hits in four innings.

Basham closed the game, pitching in the fifth and striking out one.

Games scheduled for April 19 were postponed due to inclement weather.