San Antonio Reagan wins regional series versus Lake Travis as Mike Rogers era comes to end
SAN ANTONIO — Lake Travis coach Mike Rogers said goodbye to baseball by hugging every player wearing Cavalier colors.
This was a bittersweet moment for Rogers, who coached his last high school game. The brotherhood he built with the players and coaches during a 41-year career will last forever, he said. The sting of losing an opportunity to play in the state tournament will go away.
He then congratulated San Antonio Reagan, which defeated Lake Travis 6-2 in the decisive game of a best-of-three Class 6A Region IV championship Saturday night at Northeast Stadium.
For Reagan, third baseman Ashton Beaird drove in runs with a single and a sacrifice bunt. In a game that did not have much offense, Reagan pitcher Britton Moore did not give up a run until Lake Travis scored two in the sixth on consecutive hits by Cole Johnson and Kaeden Kent. Kent, bound for Texas A&M next season, was the lone Cavalier to record two hits.
More: Lake Travis wins Game 2 of regional baseball series; coach Mike Rogers reaches milestone
The Cavaliers were retired in the sixth without scoring another run. The game ended on a deep fly to right by Johnson. Reagan reliever Teagan Peeples shut the door on Lake Travis, retiring five of the six batters he faced to end the game.
Johnson said he was disappointed he made the final out even though he hit the ball well. He then looked at his teammates in the dugout who were packing their gear one last time.
"Every one of these guys is a fighter," said Johnson, a junior first baseman. "I hit it pretty well but obviously not well enough. That will give me some motivation to do even better next season."
Rogers did not offer any excuses. Reagan had better pitching and hitting.
"As coach always tells us, baseball is a game of fundamentals," relief pitcher Hudson Gardner said. "You have to go play by play. All it is hitting a baseball and throwing a baseball and we've been doing it since we were four years old. ... (Reagan) just executed better than us."
Reagan (32-6-2) scored first on Beaird's sacrifice bunt in the second inning off Lake Travis starting pitcher Jackson Baker. The Rattlers extended their lead to 6-0 with a pair of runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth.
More: As son of an MLB stalwart, Lake Travis shortstop Kaeden Kent leads area's top 6A team
Lake Travis can look back on a season that ended with a 34-7-2 record. Rogers reached a milestone on Friday by earning the 800th victory of his career. The Cavs can also boast about winning the District 26-6A title and coming within one victory of reaching state.
Before walking to the team bus for the ride back to Austin, Rogers reflected on the positive notes of his career.
"When I started, I didn't know if I'd get 10 wins," he said. "The most important thing about getting 800 was that it kept the playoffs going."
Even for only a day.
"We knew this was a year that we could do it," Gardner said. "A few of our guys were injured, but we battled. We went from round to round, game by game, and it hurts to see the seniors go like this. Next year we're going to come back better than ever and represent."
They'll have to do so with a new leader.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: San Antonio Reagan baseball defeats Lake Travis in playoffs
