By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor

SAN ANTONIO – Revenge is a dish best served cold, and Chap ace James Ferguson kept a potent Laredo United lineup frigid as Westlake smashed through one of its biggest playoff hurdles.

Ferguson, a senior southpaw, held United (27-6) to three hits in a complete-game win as Westlake (24-12) advanced to the Class 5A Region IV championship with a 5-0 victory Thursday at Keefe Memorial Stadium on the campus of St. Mary’s University. The triumph lifted the Chaps to their first regional final since 1999, when Westlake reached the state tournament.

The victory also eased some painful playoff memories for the Chaps, who had lost in the regional semifinal round in its three previous seasons. All of those losses came to teams from South Texas, including a wrenching 7-6 setback to United last season.

“We really wanted to beat these guys,” senior second baseman Michael Perkins said. “We had them down on our calendar as soon as the season started. We wanted them; we knew we could beat them.”

The Chaps knew plenty about United because of last season’s loss, and Ferguson (11-2) used the knowledge to dominate a scrappy Longhorn lineup.

“I didn’t think they had as good a lineup as last year, so we went right at them,” he said. “They take a lot of defensive swings, so you have to be aggressive with your pitches. That was the game plan from the start.”

Any game plan against United must also account for their deft base running, and a pivotal pickoff move by Ferguson in the third inning helped slow down the Longhorns on the bags.

United put itself in prime position to break a scoreless tie after a one-out single by pitcher Luis Pollorena placed runners on first and second base. A quick move by Ferguson caught courtesy runner Carlos Villareal in a close play at second base, and Ferguson then fanned Javier Perez on his next pitch to escape the inning.

“That helped shut down their running game,” Ferguson said. “They’ll be more cautious running on you if they’re worried about getting picked off.”

Ferguson retired 10 of the last 12 United hitters. The Longhorns’ lone base runners in the final four innings came on innocuous walks.

“James came out with an attitude that ‘I’m not going to try and overpower these guys,’ ” Westlake coach Jim Darilek said. “He threw his fastball, mixed in some off-speed stuff, and he threw strikes. He kept them from getting any kind of rhythm.”

Westlake’s batters found a rhythm against Pollorena (10-3) early and often. The Chaps tallied 10 hits in the game and had a hit in each inning. Such production more than made up for six stranded runners, Darilek said.

“We kept pressure on them the whole night,” Darilek said. “Even though we didn’t come through a couple of times, we made [Pollorena] throw strikes. We made him work, and we got good pitches to hit.”

The Chaps began their scoring with a leadoff hit by Perkins in the third inning. After stealing second base and reaching third on one of two United errors, Perkins scored on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Chris Knight.

Catcher Adam Seitzman then drove in outfielder Will Harris to give the Chaps a 2-0 lead by the end of the frame.

Westlake added insurance in the sixth with three runs on four hits against a tiring Pollorena. A one-out triple by Perkins down the right-field line drove in two runs, and Knight added his second RBI with a single that scored Perkins.

“He [Pollorena] got me once, but I think I got the better of him,” said Perkins, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. “He throws a bunch of junk, but his fastball can get up on you. You just have to stay patient and hit his curve when he throws it.”

First baseman Joseph Trahan went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles for Westlake, which will face either San Antonio Reagan or Mission Sharyland in next week’s regional championship.

“We got over the hump,” Darilek said. “Now, we gotta keep it going.”