Down 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs and the bases loaded against Kennedale, Lake Ridge baseball coach Gregg Ross wanted no one else at the plate except for senior Bobby Kramer.
“When we were in the situation with the last at bat, I said, ‘What other person would you want up?’ Your senior, Bobby Kramer,” Ross said.Kramer delivered on his coach’s faith in a big way. The senior blasted a game-winning grand slam, sealing the first win for the Lake Ridge baseball program in the most dramatic of ways, a 5-2 win against Kennedale.“It was a great way to have your first win,” Ross said.The Eagles have ripped off three more wins and sit a perfect 4-0 on the season after winning their latest tournament at Bryan Adams High School.Lake Ridge won all three of its games in the tournament by at least 10 runs. The early success has even caught Ross off guard just a tad.“Not really expecting it,” he said with a chuckle. “I was only expecting that we go out and compete every day. Things have kind of gone our way and we’ve ended up with some wins.”Ross is thankful for the wins. He knows that for a first-year program, any success is good for the locker room and his players. It’s also important as Lake Ridge starts district play.Now the team knows how to win, Ross said, thanks to how the players handled their business during the non-district schedule.“That’s what it’s for,” Ross said of the preseason. “These preseason tournaments allow us to figure out how to put our best nine on the field and give us some confidence and some momentum.“Once we get to district, the intensity does increase. As long as the kids have confidence and wins on their belt, we can be ready to go.”So far, Ross has been most impressed by his team’s pitching. Against Kennedale, Ross said the Eagles pitchers were what kept them in the game.Parker Schkade started the game for Lake Ridge and went five innings and tossed six strikeouts while giving up one earned run.The Eagles bullpen made sure their deficit stayed at 2-1 before Lake Ridge rallied in the bottom of the seventh.Ross said the pitching was even more impressive in the Bryan Adams tournament.“They gave us a chance to win against Kennedale,” he said. “In this last tournament, our pitching dominated. We gave up just four runs in three games. Pitching-wise, we’ve got some kids that can get us outs.”Offensively, Ross said his philosophy is to make sure his team just hits the ball into play. He doesn’t want to see any strikeouts -- he wants defenses to throw his team out.Ross said he feels like if his players can get the ball in play, he likes his players’ chances in getting on base and forcing the defense to make a play.“We’re doing some nice things offensively: stealing bases, taking advantage of passed balls,” he said. “As far as hitting, we’re putting the ball in play and we make things happen. That’s the one thing we’ve mentioned all off season and that’s what we’re doing.“We’re putting the ball in play. If we’re making outs, they’re going to have to throw us out.”Ross is just happy to see that his team is responding to the workouts in the off-season. He said his team doesn’t act or play like a first-year program. They play like they can win.“Just because we’re first year program does not mean that we can't have success this first year,” he said. “For us to have this early success it allows the kids to look back at all the work they've done and see that it paid off. Now, let’s continue to work harder.”Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
