Published: May 30, 2009 12:13 am      

Dogs look to finish off White Oak

New Waverly hoping to get offense going with trip to regional finals on the line

The New Waverly Bulldogs took the first step toward advancing to the next round after taking care of business in the first game of the best-of-three Class 2A Region III semifinal at Morris Frank Park in Lufkin.

New Waverly will conclude the series today against seventh-ranked White Oak today at Central High School in Pollok. Game two of the series will begin at 3 p.m. If a third game is necessary, it will begin shortly after game two is finished.

If the Bulldogs advance to the regional finals, they’ll face fourth-ranked Harleton, which swept Trinity in the other Region III semifinal.

The Bulldogs got a big boost Thursday night from sophomore pitcher Matt Roberts, who didn’t walk a batter and struck out 11. Roberts won the battle of the aces against White Oak’s Blake Ware to pick up his 10th victory of the season in the 2-0 victory.

“Naturally it’s big to win any first game in a best-of-three series,” New Waverly coach Tommy Bohannon said following Thursday’s game. “It makes it more rewarding that we beat their ace and that kind of makes it a bigger first win. He’s been their best pitcher throughout the year.

“They have some other pitchers too. That may not be the last we’ve seen of him even though he did pitch six innings. We did make him throw quite a few pitches. That is taxing on the arm no matter how resilient you are.”

Despite only getting two hits in the game, the Bulldogs (24-4) made the most of their opportunities and were aggressive on the base paths.

“They’ll be looking for us in this next game for sure,” junior outfielder Eli Amador said. “We’re going to play Saturday just like we played tonight. We’re going to play through the seventh inning and go all out. We’re going to get more hits this time though. We need to field the ball like we did tonight.”

Senior Justin Thomas will get the start for White Oak (23-7) as the Roughnecks will attempt to force a third game.

“Now we know we can hit their best pitcher,” Amador said. “We’re going to try to get after their second-best pitcher. We’re going to get after him and hit the ball more. Two hits aren’t enough for us.”

The Bulldogs hope they can continue to have the kind of success that has brought them to within a victory of the Region III finals.

“We’re going to have to have the same kind of performance on Saturday and I know that’s what our kids expect out of themselves,” Bohannon said. “Right now, they’re performing at a high level. You can see their confidence growing and growing with each passing game. Tonight was just a part of getting better and better.”