Nightmare Loss to Navarro, 15-1
Travis Walker in game with El Paso Parkland earlier this year.
By the time their Moms got to their CL sons the nightmare was over and all the Hawks had to show for this game was a relieved look on their face as this season came to a close.
The Hawks carried this game to that last inning when a year of troubles finally released all that bad karma and Navarro had taken a close game and turned into a nightmarish 13 run inning and a final score of, 15-1.
How about two grand slams in that seventh inning and a batting order that batted around two times.
Tale of the 7th Inning Hit Batters: 2 Singles: 5 Doubles: 3 Home Runs: 2 Walks: 3
What will make you shake your head is that CL had controlled this game and had a chance in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the lead when the Hawks loaded the bases with no outs.
That nightmare started with that inning as Canyon Lake had one out on a squeeze play that went awry. Another potential score that was thrown out at the plate after another single.
Navarro took that defensive momentum and went crazy from the plate as Travis Walker finally ran out of gas and what fuel that was still in the tank blew up from a spark off the bats of the Navarro Panthers looking to clinch a spot for the playoffs.
That was certainly accomplished with those 13 runs and now Fredericksburg will go home without a spot in the post season as they needed a Navarro loss for a chance to play on.
Walker had another good pitching game save that last inning as he kept those Panthers guessing with his ‘eefus’ or Big Cheese pitch for much of the evening.
Another Senior, Michael Brady capped the best offensive season in CL’s history as he reached base three times with a single and two walks.
Brady upped his batting average to .413 and reached base safely in 24 of his last 25 games.
That average also gave Brady the all-time batting average for CL with a hard to be topped,
.364 average.
Walker also finished a four year career with many Canyon Lake records in hand.
Walker finished his career with a .294 batting average and finished tops with 44 rbi’s, 65 runs, 80 hits, 18 doubles and 6 home runs.
For the future, CL had some diamonds in the rough that will look real shiny once they get refined.
Ryan Hutcheson was a rock on the mound as the season matured and will be counted on next year.
J. J. Nance raised his batting average over 100 points as he completed this season with a .276 average and who was once batting 9th place finished at the top of the batting order.
Another diamond on the diamond was Peyton Sipila who finished his first year with a .298 average and a solid defensive glove.
Injuries curtailed a good beginning for Corey Shedrock who would of been counted on for some needed pitching but his injury postponed that attribute until next season.
Garrett Winters injury also hurt Canyon Lake as they lost their third baseman and spent the rest of this year trying to replace that glove.
Of course, the unfortunate wreck that sidelined Logan Felch a few weeks ago certainly did not help, as his bat and pitching was certainly missed.
Yes, a lot of happenings that when you look at them will and can remind you of that 7th inning Canyon Lake ended their campaign with.
A good team that had just enough bad circumstances to curtail what could of been a good year.
The good news in baseball is that the last at bat, pitch, and fielding play will soon be replaced with the next game.
This season will be replaced by another year, and then the Hawks will have the potential to make these past few years, just a bad dream.
Final Thoughts from the Hawks:
Michael Brady: “It was fun,” when commenting on his time at CL. “It was rough, but with this group of guys it was worth it.”
“Just ran out of gas,” when talking about that nightmare inning. “They (Navarro) had a lot on the line and they just came out at the right time and took it to us.”
Travis Walker: “Navarro got momentum in the bottom of the sixth inning when we didn’t score,” also commenting on the end of the game. “And they carried it on too their bats.”
“I’m going to miss it,” Walker said with fondness. “I had a good four years and it will be tough leaving, but you just have to move on.”
Fondest Memory: “My freshman year in the playoffs down in Harlingen and playing as a Senior with this group of players.”
“The luck of the draw and the ball did not roll our way,” Walker closed when thinking about how close Canyon Lake was to having a break out year.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Navarro 2 0 0 0 0 0 13 15 16 3 Canyon Lake 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 8 4
Season name ab r h bi bb so misc ave J. J. Nance 4 0 2 0 0 0 .276 Peyton Sipila 2 0 0 0 0 0 .298 ph Ryan Hutcheson 1 0 0 0 0 1 sac .196 Michael Brady 2 0 1 0 2 1 .413 pr Daniel Camarillo 0 1 0 0 0 0 sb Corey Shedrock 4 0 0 0 0 0 roe .200 Travis Walker 4 0 1 1 0 2 .197 pr Kyler Huff 0 0 0 0 0 0 sb Nick Cahill 2 0 1 0 0 0 .286 Daniel Reed 2 0 1 0 0 0 .222 ph Daniel Camarillo 1 0 1 0 0 0 .250 Tyler Vinson 2 0 1 0 0 1 .235 ph Kyler Huff 1 0 0 0 0 0 roe .302 Cody Powell 2 0 0 0 1 0 roe .382 ds T. J. Jones 0 0 0 0 0 0 .188 totals 27 1 8 1 3 5
pitching ip r er h bb so np misc Travis Walker 6.0* 6 5 10 2 2 91 Tyler Vinson 0.1 6 6 4 2 0 25 Nick Kissell 0.2 3 3 2 1 1 24 hb (2) * Walker pitched to 4 batters in the 7th inning.
balls/strikes Travis Walker 29/62 Tyler Vinson 14/11 Nick Kissell 10/14
