Swifts win Regional championship

The Nazareth Swifts advanced to the state playoffs after defeating the May Tigers for the Regional championship in a double header on Monday, 15-0 and 6-5. The games were played at Stanton High School.

The Swifts will playing the Kennard Tigers on June 7 at Dell Diamon in Round Rock in the state semifinals.

Leading the Swifts baseball squad is Head Coach Tyler Goodwin and Asst. Coach Trae Hannon.

Game 1

Swifts Carson Heiman took the win for Nazareth, pitching five innings for 38 strikes in 60 pitches, with three strikeouts and zero runs, surrendering one hit and three walks.

The first inning saw Heiman take first base on a walk and advancing to second on a passed ball. Tanner Birkenfeld reached first base on a dropped third-strike ball and Heiman advanced to third base. Birkenfeld stole second base.

Sterl Welps hit a fly ball to left field, allowing Heiman and Birkenfeld to score on a Tigers’ error. Braden Bullard singled on a fly ball to center field; the Tigers commit an error putting Bullard on first and sending Welps to home plate for a third Nazareth run.

Jack Welps grounded a ball into fielder’s choice to third base and Bullard was put out advancing to second.

Will Young came up to bat and walked, advancing J. Welps to second base.

Brett Heitschmidt came up to bat. Welps and Young both advanced to third and second base on a foul ball. Heitschmidt stikes out ending the top of the first inning.

With May at bat, Heiman strikes out the first batter, walks the second. The third batter grounded to shortstop Young and the runner was put out advancing to second. Heiman walked the next batter and the last batter of the inning grounded out to shortstop Young.

The top of the second inning, Bagley and Schulte struck out, Heiman walked. Heiman would be picked off at first base, giving the Swifts their third out.

May came to bat and Nazareth ended the second inning rather quickly with all batters out on pop outs and flyouts Schulte, Young and Birkenfeld.

Naz batters were back in action in the top of the third inning. Birkenfeld singled on a line drive to center field. S. Welps singled on a line drive to center field, advancing S. Welps to second base and Birkenfeld to third on the throw. Bullard singled on a bunt to the catcher; Birkenfeld scored and S. Welps advances to third. J. Welps singled on a hard ground ball to center field, bringing S. Welps across home plate and advancing Bullard to third. Young singled on a pop fly to second base; Bullard scored, and J. Welps advanced to second base. Heitschmidt struck out; J. Welps and Young remain on base. Bagley grounds into a double play allowing J. Welps to score, Young is out advancing to home.

The Tigers were unable to score in the third inning, putting Nazareth in the lead, 7-0.

The fourth inning got underway and Naz batters were still on target, bringing in five runs.

Schulte popped out in foul territory to the catcher. Heiman singled on a line drive to center field and Birkenfeld singled on a line drive to right field, Heiman advances to second. S. Welps hits a ground ball and reaches first on an error by the May shortstop, then second base on the throw, with Birkenfeld advancing to third. Heiman scored. Birkenfield scored on a passed ball; Bullard is walked and S. Welps remained at second. S. Welps scored on a passed ball and Bullard advanced to second base. J. Welps triples on a line drive to left field and Bullard came across home plate for the run. Young is out on a sacrifice fly to left field and J. Welps scored. Heitschmidt strikes out swinging, ending the top of the fourth inning with Nazareth leading 12-0.

The Tigers were unable to score in the fourth inning.

The fifth and final inning of the first game saw Nazareth roll in with three more runs.

Bagley was walked and Schulte tripled on a line drive to left field, bringing Bagley across home plate for a run. Heiman grounded into fielder’s choice to third and Schulte is out advancing to home, with Heiman on second. Birkenfeld flies out to right field and Heiman advanced to third after tagging up. S. Welps tripled on a line drive to right field and Heiman scored a run. Bullard popped out in foul territory to the catcher; S. Welps scored on an error by the third baseman.

May was unable to score, giving the Swifts their first win of the Regional championship series. Luke Schulte had four at bats, one hit, one RBI and two strikeouts; Carson Heiman, two at bats, three runs, one hit and two walks; Tanner Birkenfeld, four at bats, three runs, two hits and one strikeout; Sterl Welps, four at bats, four runs, two hits and two RBIs; Braden Bullard, three at bats, two runs, two hits, one RBI and one walk; Jack Welps, three at bats, two runs, two hits and two RBIs; Will Young, one at bat, one hit, two RBIs and one walk; Brett Heitschmidt, three at bats and three strikeouts; and Tell Bagley, two at bats, one run, one RBI, one walk and one strikeout.

Game 2

Swifts pitcher Tanner Birkenfeld got the game underway on the mound, pitching five innings for 49 strikes in 79 pitches with two strikeouts, surrendering five hits, one run, one walk and one error. Sterl Welps came in as relief pitcher for one inning, pitching 10 strikes in 25 pitches, surrendering one hit, two runs, three walks and two errors. Carson Heiman took the win, pitching one inning for 12 strikes in 21 pitches, surrendering three hits and two runs.

The Tigers batted in the top of the first inning and were taken out quickly with no runs.

Nazareth batters came in with three runs in the bottom of the first. Luke Schulte singled on a line drive to center field. Heiman came up to the plate and Schulte stole second base on a foul ball. Heiman grounded out to the shortstop. Birkenfeld singled on a hard ground ball to right field; Schulte advanced to third base. Birkenfeld stole second base. S. Welps out at first on dropped third strike. Braden Bullard was hit by a pitch and loaded the bases. Jack Welps walks and Schulte scores. Will Young lined out to the pitcher, ending the first inning.

Neither team scored in the second inning, putting the score going in the third inning with the Swifts leading 1-0.

Birkenfeld got the bottom of the third inning started with an in-the-park home run on a line drive to right field. S. Welps singled on a ground ball to second base and then scores on an error by first base. Bullard popped out to shortstop for the first out. J. Welps singles on a line drive to third base. Young singled on a line drive to center field, advancing J. Welps to second. Brett Heitschmidt popped out into a double play to right field, with J. Welps out advancing to third.

The Tigers did not score in the third inning and fourth innings.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Bagley flies out to left field. Schulte tripled on a line drive to left field. Heiman struck out, leaving Schulte at third base. Birkenfeld tripled on a line drive to center field, sending Schulte across home plate. S. Welps triples on a line drive to center field and Birkenfeld scored a run. Bullard strikes out swinging.

The score at the end of the fourth inning had Naz leading 5-1.

The Tigers did not score in the fifth inning.

J. Welps was up to bat in the bottom of the fifth and pops out to second base. Young strikes out swinging. Heitschmidt tripled on a fly ball to left field. Bagley came up to bat and singled on a ground ball to the shortstop and Heitschmidt cross home plate for a run. Bagley advanced to second on a passed ball and Schulte singled on a ground ball to third base and Bagley advanced to third base. Heiman flies out to left field, ending the fifth inning.

Getting into the sixth inning, the first May batter is hit by a pitch and takes first base. The next batter singles on a line drive to center field and the previous runner scores, putting the Tigers on the scoreboard. The third batter singles on a line drive to right field. S. Welps was brought in as the Swifts’ relief pitcher. The Tigers batter flies out to center field and the next batter is walked. May grounds into a double play to the Naz shortstop, ending the top of the sixth.

Nazareth came up to bat, with Birkenfeld singling on a hard ground ball to first base. S. Welps grounds into a fielder’s choice to the shortstop; Birkenfeld out advancing to second. Bullard pops out to first base; S. Welps remained at first. J. Welps grounded out to shortstop, ending the sixth inning with a score of 6-1.

The Swifts had their hands full in the top of the seventh inning, with the Tigers making an offensive charge. The first batter singled on a hard ground ball to center field, with the next walking, putting two runners on base. A third batter is walked, loading the bases. Heiman was brought as pitcher. The next batter grounds into a double play to short stop, leaving one runner on third. May singles on a line drive to right field and the runner scores. The next batter hit a line drive and reaches first on an error by center field, putting two runners on first and second base, followed by a hard ground ball to the Naz shortstop, loading the bases. May singles on a fly ball to left field and two runners score. The final batter popped out in foul territory to third base, to end the game, and give the Swifts the second-game win, 6-5 and the Regional championship title.

Luke Schulte had three at bats, two runs and three hits; Carson Heiman, four at bats and one strikeout; Tanner Birkenfeld, four at bats, two runs, four hits one homerun and two RBIs; Sterl Welps, four at bats, one run, two hits, one RBI and one strikeout; Braden Bullard, three at bats and one strikeout; Jack Welps, three at bats, one hit, one RBI and one walk; Will Young, three at bats, one hit and one strikeout; Brett Heitschmidt, three at bats, one run, one hit and one strikeout; and Tell Bagley, three at bats, one hit, one RBI and one strikeout.