By Marcus Krum
Staff Writer
@marcuskrum

After the game started with a look back at the Coppell state championship baseball team from twenty years ago, it ended with a glimpse forward of what is still yet to come, as the Cowboys finished out the regular season with an 11-1 victory over Haltom, sealing the deal on the co-district championship.

It started off a bit rocky, with Haltom jumping out to a 1-0 run in the top of the first after a two out walk and a base hit drove in a run for the Buffalos. The Cowboys answered in the bottom of the inning when junior shortstop Marco Navarro drove in sophomore shortstop Jacob Nesbit with a sacrifice fly, then sophomore designated hitter Trey Becerra scored after junior infielder Hayden Kettler reached first on an error by the Haltom shortstop.

After both teams were held scoreless in the second inning, Becerra drove in senior outfielder Daniel Jones to extend the Cowboys’ lead to 3-1.

“It felt really good because the whole year our pitchers have been battling and just keeping us in the game” senior starting pitcher Jensen Elliott said. Elliott finished the game with five innings pitched, three hits and one run given up. “It is finally nice to have back to back high scoring games from our hitters.”

With Elliott still dealing in the top of the fourth, Haltom was again held to no runs. In the bottom of the inning, sophomore infielder Austin Gross scored on a pass ball, and junior outfielder Myles Paschal crushed a home run over the left field wall. With no outs in the inning, the Cowboys’ lead was now 5-1.

Coppell picked up one more run in the inning, and then another in the bottom of the fifth, giving them a 7-1 advantage going into the final two innings of the game. When sophomore relief pitcher John Kodros struck out two batters to retire the side in order in the top of the fifth, the Cowboys’ needed three more runs to finish it off with the run rule in effect. (After five innings, if a team takes a ten run lead, then the game is called.) After they scored two more, Paschall hit a “walk off” sacrifice fly with one out, giving them the 11-1 win and the co-district championship in which they are tied with Euless Trinity, moving on into the first round of the playoffs next week.

“We just have to continue to stay positive,” Elliott said. “Relax with the team in the dug out Make sure that nobody is feeling too much pressure and just play our game.”

Looking forward into the playoffs, this two game sweep of Haltom is exactly what was needed in order to gain momentum.

“you want to be playing [well] at the very end of the reason and right now we are playing really well. The hitters are swinging the bat the best they have all year,” CHS baseball coach Kendall Clark said. “You could be a team that peaked early or you can peak late. And obviously the teams that peak late are the ones that win championships. They are starting to peak at the right time; right around playoff time.”