By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor

 

SAN MARCOS ­– One big inning accounted for all of Westlake’s runs, but a series of big defensive plays proved most pivotal as the Chaps advanced to the third round of the playoffs with a 5-3 win over San Antonio Clark Tuesday at Bobcat Baseball Field.

 

The Chaps will face Smithson Valley in a Class 5A Region IV quarterfinal contest in a best-of-three series at Bobcat Baseball Field this weekend. The first game starts Friday at 6 p.m. Game two begins at noon Saturday, and a third game will begin 30 minutes after its conclusion, if necessary.

 

Westlake’s defense was necessary for the Chaps (21-11) to fend off a series of rallies from Clark (20-9-1) late in the game. After Westlake built a 5-2 lead with a five-run, three-hit barrage in the second inning, the Cougars responded by getting runners on base in each of the following innings. However, the Chaps turned three double plays in the final three innings to hold on for the win.

 

“It’s a killer when you turn those double plays,” Westlake coach Jim Darilek said. “It just took it out of them. I was real proud of how we played defense. I know that we made some mistakes, but when we had to make plays to put them away, we did it. That’s how you win ballgames.”

 

Westlake’s defensive gems began when second baseman Michael Perkins sprinted into shallow center field and made a running catch with two on and two out on the third inning. Perkins and shortstop Stephen Koenig turned an inning-ending double play in the fifth frame, and the pair erased a leadoff walk in the sixth inning with another double play.

 

Clark’s Vince Salazar led off the seventh inning with a single into center field, but Koenig and Perkins again turned a double play – with help from a tremendous stretch by first baseman Joseph Trahan – to eliminate that threat.

 

According to Koenig, such defense has become second nature for the infield.

 

“We work on that every single day,” he said. “We work hard on infield and those fundamentals even during the playoffs, when most teams don’t.”

 

Koenig and Perkins also worked hard at the plate with two hits and two RBIs each. Both had key hits in the second inning, when Westlake had almost half of its seven hits against Clark starter Carl O’Neal. Perkins started the scoring with a two-run single into right field, and Koenig added a two-run single into almost the same spot that boosted Westlake to a 5-2 lead.

 

“He [O’Neal] kept leaving them up, and we kept ripping and ripping,” Koenig said.

 

Although O’Neal gathered his bearings after that inning and worked a complete game, his team couldn’t overcome a frame that also included two walks, a hit batter and a passed ball.

 

“He got a little shook, I think,” Darilek said. “We had a couple of hard hits, and then he walked a couple of guys. We got more patient and made him come into the strike zone, and then we hit the ball hard.”

 

Clark did its share of damage in the opening inning, when Chap starter Holt McNair gave up two runs and four hits, including three consecutive singles.

 

“Holt had a little adrenaline and tried to throw too hard,” Darilek said. “He left his fastball up, and that’s when he got hit.”

 

But like his team, McNair settled down and earned a complete-game win. He only allowed one more hit after the first inning as Westlake completed its second come-from-behind playoff win.

 

“We weren’t worried when we fell behind,” Koenig said. “It’s not anything that we haven’t done before. After that first inning, everything just started clicking.”

 

 

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