Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Gatesville baseball season ended their season in a regional quarterfinals loss to district rival Salado on May 18 putting an end to another deep playoff run and capping the careers of a senior class that changed the trajectory of the Hornets program.
The 5-0 loss to the Eagles in game three of the series meant the end of the careers of Justin Johnson, Lawson Mooney, Braley Veazey, Caden Brister, Clayton Gregory, Riley Watson, and Sean Aguilar – a collective unit that helped the Hornets to 66 wins over the last four seasons.
Amongst those wins were eight playoff victories over the last two seasons as Gatesville captured bi-district and area titles in 2023 and 2024. Prior to defeating Marble Falls in the 2023 bi-district round, Gatesville had been winless in the postseason since 2010. After taking down the Mustangs, the Hornets topped Giddings for the area crown but fell to eventual state champion China Spring in the regional quarterfinals.
Another trip to the regional quarterfinals – and perhaps beyond – was expected in 2023, and the Hornets delivered it the first two rounds. They blasted Lago Vista 7-3 and 8-0 to sweep the bi-district round then pushed past a series-opening loss to Caldwell to win the final two games and snag their second straight area title.
Gatesville and Salado tied for second in 23-4A in 2024 with identical 7-3 league records after splitting their games against each other. Eagles easily dispatched Georgetown Gateway and La Grange in the first two rounds to set up the regional quarterfinals series that everyone knew was coming.
Like most Gatesville playoff series, weather threw a wrench in the schedule as it cancelled game one and forced a double-header on May 18.
Salado took game one of the series 3-2 on a game-winning sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Eagles loaded the bases via an error and two singles, then got the winning run when Brody Cole’s fly ball carried Miles Tull deep into centerfield and allowed the run to score.
Gatesville took an early lead in the top of the 4th inning. Bradey James tripled to right field off of Salado’s Logan Flores, then scored when Gehrig Keeton singled to left field. James helped get another run home in the top of the fifth inning when his ground ball forced an error and allowed Mooney to score to make it 2-0.
But Salado came back with two of their own in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game 2-2 before ultimately winning it in the bottom of the seventh.
James started on the mound for Gatesville in the opener going six innings, allowing just four hits and two runs. Mooney, Veazey, Gregory, and Johnson also had hits in game one.
Down 0-1 in the series and facing elimination, the Hornets handed the ball to Veazey to save their season, and he more than delivered throwing a dominant no-hitter to help push Gatesville to a 1-0 win and a 1-1 tie in the series.
Veazey - Temple College signee – struck out 11 Salado hitters while walking two and hitting one batter. The only hard hit ball of the night was from the final hitter of the night, Jace Light, who hit a long fly ball to left centerfield that ultimately settled into the glove of Johnson to cap the brilliant performance.
The win was his 9th of the season, giving him 22 career wins over three seasons – the most in program history. He finished his senior season with a 9-1 record, 100 strikeouts, and a 1.055 ERA. His career strikeout mark of 275 and career ERA of 1.94 are also program records.
“I’m really proud to see him pitch his last game and go out with that type of outing and to just put an exclamation point on how great of career he has had,” said head coach Chase Smith. “I think he is the best pitcher Gatesville has ever had, and people will be talking about him for a long time. It was really cool to get to coach him and call pitches and to have his last game be a no-hitter. Just really proud of him.”
Smith also said that the performance was “vintage” Veazey as he kept Salado hitters off balance.
“He has thrown a lot of breaking balls all year, and I think they started looking for them and had no chance when they were looking for slider, and then he would throw his fastball like he was Friday,” Smith said. “He located his fastball and was throwing hard. The ball was exploding out of his hand, and he was sharp.”
The Hornets got Veazey the only run he needed in the top of the second inning. Aguilar was hit by a pitch with one out, then advanced to second on a passed ball. After Keeton walked, another passed ball moved Aguilar to third base, and he scored on a sacrifice bunt from Jastin Muegge.
Johnson was 2-2 in game two, and Mooney, James, and Aguilar each had hits.
In Game three, Keeton got the start and pitched four innings and allowed one earned run on two hits. He left the game trailing 3-0, but Salado added two more runs late in the contest.
Salado’s Dylan Wigely was at his best in game three as well as he struck out 15 Hornets and did not walk a batter over seven innings.
Mooney was 3-3 with a pair of stolen bases in his final game in a Hornets uniform. He finishes his Gatesville career as the programs career leader in stolen bases and is second all-time in at-bats. His 117 at-bats in 2024 are the second-most in a season as were his 43 hits in 2024.
While Smith says he will spend time thinking about the baseball side of the loss, the bigger loss is always his senior classes.
Johnson was a three-year letterman who blossomed in 2024 hitting .305 and reaching base at a .400 clip while playing multiple positions and batting in a variety of spots in the lineup. Gregory hit .273 and found his groove as the Hornets closer late in the year. His extra-inning RBI single at Salado propelled the Hornets to a 2-1 win on April 16.
“You do think a little bit about the baseball side of things. I think about the little mistakes and the missed opportunity to take game one, but I feel like those guys and us as coaches worked extremely hard and gave so much to have the success we did,” said Smith. “You can’t replace Lawson and Bralen. Those guys are two of the very best to ever play baseball here. Every year it is tough knowing those guys won’t be coming back again and, for most of them, that will be the last baseball game they ever play, and that’s tough knowing that. We talked about playing hard so we wouldn’t have regrets, and I think those guys left it all out on the field.”
While the losses loom huge, the cupboard is far from bare for the Hornets. James, Keeton, Muegge, and Miles Tull are all sophomores, and they will be joined by several other talented sophomores in 2025. Additionally, junior Logan Biggs returns, and the infield will be anchored by another junior as slick-fielding John Ibarra will return for his fourth varsity season.
“Yea, the future is definitely bright. Getting to play so many playoff games the past two years has gotten our younger guys a lot of really good experience. Having John back, who is probably the most talented infielder I have ever coached, will help solidify our defense again next year,” said Smith. “Bradey has two years now in the middle of our lineup and has really become a good pitcher for us along with Gehrig. Having those two guys back on the mound will make us tough to score a lot against, and our outfield is going to be really good again with Tull and Muegge playing really well for us all year long. There is going to be good baseball in Gatesville for a while.”
