Keller bats, MLB prospect knock off Strake Jesuit to send Indians to state championship
Keller used a big inning and got a stellar performance on the mound from ace Eric Hammond, and the Indians beat Houston Strake Jesuit, 7-1, in a Class 6A state semifinal game Friday at Dell Diamond.
The Indians (36-7) will play in their first UIL baseball state championship game, 4 p.m. Saturday against Rockwall-Heath (37-11-1), whick beat Smithson Valley 8-4 Friday night.
The program is making its first appearance at the state tournament since 1991.
“Eric did a great job on the mound and I thought we swung our bats well. Squared up a lot of balls. They did a great job, kept going and adding to the lead,” Keller coach Rob Stramp said.
Keller put the pressure on in the bottom of the first inning when Griffin Barton and Aidan Connors led off the Indian bats with back-to-back doubles. Barton advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when Connors hit a pitch that just stayed inside the first-base line.
But the Indians couldn’t grow the lead stranding two runners.
Strake Jesuit (27-13-1) tied the game in the top of the second inning when Ryan Montgomery hit a one-out single that plated Jacob Dorman on a designed hit-and-run from second base.
The Indians were in for another monster inning in the third, but again would settle for a single run. However, Keller regained the lead when it loaded the bases before the first out and Barton scored from third on a deep sac fly to center from Mike Dattalo.
Keller finally had a big inning with a four-run fourth to balloon its advantage to 6-1.
Todd Baffa led off with a single and scored from first on a deep RBI double from Missouri signee Whit Thoms. Courtesy runner Colten Vargas would score from third on an RBI sac fly to left from Connors.
Two Jesuit errors on the same play gave Keller a 5-1 lead and Gray Rowlett scored from second base following an RBI single to right field by Dattalo.
“We prepared all week long, hitting and knowing what pitch [Garrett Stratton] was going to throw and it worked out,” Dattalo said. “We just knew if we could put up more runs that we were going to put them away.”
Jesuit put the heat on Hammond in the top of the fifth loading the bases, but Hammond got out of the jam with a pop fly to center that kept it a five-run margin.
“Eric has kind of been that way all year. He’ll get into a jam, but he’ll get himself out of it,” Stramp said. “You think he isn’t throwing well then you look up and he only gave up one run.”
Barton, who also walked twice, got on base for a fourth time and extended the lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth that scored Vargas to make it 7-1.
Barton scored three times. Dattalo and Connors each had two hits and two RBI.
“Griffin has come on strong toward the end of the year,” Stramp said. “He’s flipped a switch and all of a sudden he’s on a tear.”
Hammond, who is signed to USC but an MLB draft prospect, pitched six strong innings allowing four hits and an unearned run with three walks and nine strikeouts in his final high school outing.
“My mindset as always is to compete and the coaches did a great job mixing it up. I just tried to execute his pitches as best as possible,” Hammond said. “It’s nice to get a win and move on to the next day.
“You can’t have enough runs. Throughout the playoffs and even the season, every team is a quality opponent so we try to get as many runs as we can get.”
Wichita State signee Robert Cranz is the projected starter on Saturday for Keller.
This story was originally published June 11, 2021 at 8:53 PM.
