New Home baseball batting order depth eliminates reigning high school state champion New Deal

It started off innocent enough. Regan Fiedler laid down a bunt with runners on first and second with nobody out in the bottom of the second.

Fiedler has laid down several bunts for the New Home baseball team this year. Usually, he gets thrown out — but he's always close. This play at first was another close call, but Fielder beat the throw to load the bases.

More: Photos: New Home vs. New Deal region quarterfinal baseball, May 20

That was just the beginning of a never-ending inning, and the beginning of the end of New Deal's reign as state champions.

After Fiedler's bunt, six of the next seven New Home batters drew bases-loaded walks. Down 2-0 at the start of the frame, the Leopards found themselves up 8-2, which turned into an 18-2 thumping in the first game of their Region I-2A quarterfinal series at Hays Field at Lubbock Christian University on Friday night.

The Leopards followed that effort with a 13-0 victory in the second game to sweep the series. It was a rematch of last year's region quarterfinals between the two teams, which New Deal swept. Friday was a very different outcome, but it was one the Leopards should've happened last year as well.

"We knew coming in that we could hit them," Fiedler said. "We hit them last year. Last year we just lost because of errors. We knew we could score, so it was just about seeing strikes, picking out pitches to hit and just scoring runs."

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New Home's record is flashy (28-2 after Friday's sweep), and most of its wins are lopsided affairs. How those scores come about is anything but flashy, The Leopards pride themselves on doing the little things well, not beating themselves and capitalizing on the opposition's mistakes.

There were plenty of chances at the latter against New Deal. The Lions struggled to find the strike zone all night, and when they did, the Leopards showed off the depth of their batting order.

"I feel like right now we're at a point where all of our boys we've got are doing a good job offensively," New Home head coach Brady Webb said. "That's what I think's tough. You don't go through the top of the order and it's a breeze coming out of that. It's still tough."

Fiedler is an example of the New Home battery coming into its own. A standout basketball player for the Leopards — earning all-state honors this past season — Fiedler's high school baseball career has hit a few snags.

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First, it was COVID-19 that took away Fiedler's freshman season. Last year, during the bi-district round of the basketball playoffs, he tore his UCL in his left arm, leaving him unable to play baseball in 2021.

It's been a long climb back for the Leopard junior, but he has plenty of athleticism. In the second game of the doubleheader, Fielder snagged a chopper, tripped up a bit and got the force-out at second. Not satisfied, Fiedler fired a picture-perfect throw to first base from his knees to get the double play.

"Obviously, athletic ability is through the roof," Webb said of Fiedler. "He can do some stuff defensively that other kids just can't do because he's so dang-um athletic."

Fiedler bats eighth in the New Home lineup, which doesn't shout "star" most of the time. However, Webb said the bottom of the Leopard's batting order — Alex Vitolas, Fiedler and Jackson Raines — has often been the best bats on the team. That was the case against New Deal.

"New Home is a very well-coached team and they put the ball in play and sprayed it all around the field," New Deal head coach Jordan Terry said. "They did what they had to do to win for sure."

Vitolas, Fielder and Raines combined to hit 5-for-9 in the first game and were 6-for-7 in the second, totaling 14 RBI between the three of them.

"Everybody fills in their part," Fiedler said. "Me getting a bunt, people walking with the bases loaded to get a run, sac flies. ...It just all comes together."

The Leopards will now move on to the region semifinals next week against Anson, and Class 2A is guaranteed to have a new state champion with the Lions' exit.

"I think all these kids have responded really well all year long," Terry said of New Deal. "I think they had some goals, definitely, to try to get back to the state tournament like they did last year. We had some roles that we had to replace and fill from last year, but I'm really proud of everything they've done all year long."

Game 1: New Home 18, New Deal 2 (5)

New Deal    200    00 — 2    5    2

New Home    086    4x — 18    10    0

Harley Patterson, Tyler Bigham (2) and Colby Henderson (3). Zach Blizel. W — Blizel. L — Patterson. 3B — New Deal, Harley Patterson; New Deal, Logan Addison. 

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Game 2: New Home 13, New Deal 0 (6)

New Home    020    614 — 13    11    1

New Deal    000    000 — 0    2    4

Ashton Lucio and Brady Brown (6). Jonas Rodriguez, Harley Patterson (5) and Tyler Bigham (6). W — Lucio. L — Rodriguez. 2B — New Home, Logan Addison. 3B — New Home, Logan Addison. Records: New Home 28-2, New Deal 21-6

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: New Home eliminates reigning champ New Deal in high school baseball