A crown for the Deer
Deer Park wins 6A baseball title.
ROUND ROCK — This was more than 50 years in the making.
As Adrian Gonzales mowed down one San Antonio Reagan batter after another in the final innings Saturday, the Deer Park baseball team and its maroon-clad faithful recognized the enormity of the moment.
Yes, the dogpile that ensued seconds after Deer Park completed a 7-2 victory at Dell Diamond commemorated the 2017 team. The Deer won five times when facing elimination in the postseason before even reaching the state tournament, then beat Southlake Carroll and the Rattlers to become Class 6A champions.
But this was bigger than one team in one season.
This was for the 1964 Deer, who were the first of four state qualifiers in the program. This was for the 1990 team, which reached the championship game and led in the bottom of the seventh inning before losing on a walkoff home run.
This was for last season’s Deer, which rattled off 35 straight wins, climbed to No. 1 in the nation and were three outs away from reaching state before falling one round short.
Heck, it was even for the Deer Park softball team, which reached state last weekend for the first time in three years but lost in the semifinals.
“Knowing we’ve been close to this point, it’s all we’ve been working for,” said senior Dylan Pullig, whose uncle — former prep All-American quarterback Corey Pullig — was on the 1990 team. “It’s kind of cool that 27 years later, there’s a Pullig on this team. We came back to state, and it’s neat that we have that legacy.”
Led 6-0 by the fourth
Unlike much of the playoff road, there was little suspense Saturday. Deer Park (35-8-1) stranded a runner at third base in the first inning but led 6-0 by the fourth on Reagan lefthander Cal Carver.
The Deer executed a perfect hit-and-run in the second with No. 8 batter Taylor Lee ripping a two-run double past a diving Hilton Brown just inside the bag at third.
Blake Martin, who singled in his first three state plate appearances, added a sacrifice fly in the third. Back-to-back singles from Austin Mitchell and Chase Keng with the bases loaded doubled the lead. Keng, who tied Friday’s semifinals game with an RBI single, plated two Saturday.
Carver completed five innings, giving up eight hits and three walks before the bullpen took over.
Reagan (31-9) tagged Deer lefty Clay Aguilar for 11 hits in 41⁄3 innings. He got some help with two double plays and picked off Brown after he led off the first with a single, which proved big at the time as Porter Brown followed with a double.
“You win with pitching and defense, and I think this bunch showed it,” Deer Park coach Chris Rupp said. “That was especially the case throughout the playoffs as we had a lot of one-run ballgames, and we had to make some plays.”
‘A magical run’
Aguilar gave way to Gonzales, who entered with the bases loaded and one out but retired all eight batters he faced. In two relief appearances over the weekend, Gonzales threw six shutout innings and struck out five.
“Being a reliever is a big weight on your shoulders,” said Gonzales, the cham- pionship game Most Valuable Player. “You got to go in there and not let your teammates down. But if you go in there and throw strikes, you’ll be all right.”
The Deer are more than alright. They’re champions.
“To be the team that finally brings the championship to Deer Park is a great feeling,” Rupp said.
Added Gonzales: “We didn’t want to relive what we lived through (last year). We had something special this year. We had a magical run.”