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This year’s baseball season was more of a struggle than the last three years for Lake Travis (20-13), but the Cavaliers think there’s more to their team than meets the eye.
“We feel like we’ve got to be the best 20-13 team there is in the state of Texas,” Lake Travis head coach Roy Kinnan said. “We have eight or nine giveaway games where we made some silly mistakes and we’ve played good competition from start to finish. That absolutely prepares us for the playoffs. We’ve seen the best pitching, we’ve seen the best hitting and now’s the time to go.”
It’s always time to go in 4A’s Region IV, which has produced an incredible amount of talent in the last 12 years. Nine of the last 12 state championship games featured a team from Region IV, and five of the last six state champions emerged from Region IV. Had it not been for an elbow injury to Corpus Christi Calallen ace Jordan John in the series following the one with Lake Travis last year in the region semifinals, there may be a streak of six straight state champions from the region. As it turned out, Corpus Christi Moody made the state championship and lost Texas High.
This year is no different than years past, as Region IV teams occupy three of the top four spots in the 4A poll – Moody (27-3) is No. 2, Calallen (26-3) is No. 3 and Hendrickson (26-2) has had a breakout season to earn a No. 4 ranking.
There’s no question that Lake Travis hasn’t lived up to the hype that got it a No. 2 ranking, but it’s not to say the team can’t do damage now, especially after a strong finish to the season, and two narrow losses to Hendrickson.
“We hit the ball, we made defensive plays and we got great pitching performances in the last week of the season,” Kinnan said. “The kids have the right attitude and are playing the right way. We looked great in our scrimmages this week. Now we’ve got to take one game at a time and take care of business.”
Taking care of business has gotten Lake Travis to the regional semifinal two years in a row, only to lose to Calallen, but it’s also the deepest in the playoffs the team has ever gone in the history of the program. That progress has landed five players at Big 12 schools in the last three years, and had one drafted by the Astros.
This year’s squad is led by a sixth Big 12 commit in Brad Kuntz (Baylor), who appears to do it all for the Cavaliers. Kuntz is hitting .457/.579/.840 while also serving as the staff ace, carving out a 1.41 ERA in 59 2/3 innings pitched and striking out a ridiculous 126 batters over that span. When teamed up with Lake Travis’ No. 2 starter Jason Harris, who has a 1.62 ERA in 47 2/3 innings pitched, the two pitchers are a formidable duo. But defense and hitting were the issues that sank the Cavaliers during the season.
With a general feeling that some of those woes have subsided, the team now faces first round underdog Crockett in the bi-district championship. The Cougars finished third in the weaker District 26-4A, which Dripping Springs cruised through with ease.
Lake Travis also beat Crocket 14-10 earlier this year, giving the Cavaliers confidence while keeping wary of the threat the Cougars pose.
“They never give up,” Harris said. “We were up by a lot and they came back and made it a close game. They just keep fighting and you never know what they’re capable of.”
It’s exact reason Kinnan doesn’t want the team to start looking ahead in the playoffs.
“They’re going to swing the bat, no question,” he saids. “They came to play. We had a big lead and started making substitutions and they continued to battle. So we keep telling our guys that they can’t look past Crockett, they’re not going to just let it go.”
But neither will the Cavaliers if they’ve learned anything from the last few playoff runs in the toughest region in the state.
Lake Travis isn’t the favorite, but that’s always been the case. With so many good teams beating up on each other, you never know what could happen.
And while it may be looking a bit too far ahead, it’s worth noting that the Cavaliers need to just win their first two rounds to earn a date with rival Dripping Springs in the third round. The rivalry might have the chance to renew before the teams are put back in the same district next season.
“There’s no question that Lake Travis hasn’t lived up to the hype that got it a No. 2 ranking, “…….Got that right!!!
Corpus Christi Moody’s team is hard to beat because they enroll players from the entire Corpus area, including small towns around it. If a player is good and has potential, he will attend Moody, it was allowed because of minority issues. The UIL put a stop to that but now it’s a special nursing program the school has that allows students from anywhere to attend the school and play baseball. So when you get beat with the mercy rule you will know why>
The truth,
I live in the Carroll district, but my wife and I both attended Moody. If I want to see my son(s) to play baseball at Moody, that is my wife’s and my decision. Other parents have kids that live in the Moody district, but they send their son(s) to play baseball at Ray, Carroll, John Paul II, etc., etc. Don’t single Moody, because transfers occur throughout the city of Corpus Christi. Also, the UIL doesn’t do nothing, because the transfers are legal. Moody is not going jeopardize a chance at a state championship by not double checking to see if my son’s transfer is legal. By the way, my wife and I are in the medical field, so why wouldn’t we want our son to get the best education possible if he wants to follow us in our footsteps in a career in medicine?
The truth, your facts are bogus. CC Moody has been accused of recruiting playes for the last 20 years, the UIL has nothing on Moody. I wish people would stop bashing this legendary program and appauld their success instead of trying to discredit them.
The truth says
“Corpus Christi Moody’s team is hard to beat because they enroll players from the entire Corpus area, including small towns around it. If a player is good and has potential, he will attend Moody, it was allowed because of minority issues. The UIL put a stop to that but now it’s a special nursing program the school has that allows students from anywhere to attend the school and play baseball. So when you get beat with the mercy rule you will know why”
What a joke. Moody has ONE transfer this year from one of the local schools.
Well I heard that the start recruiting from the 8th grade and when they become freshman they have all these great players waiting for there chance to start. I went to one of there freshman games and man they have some solid players that can hit and pitch they probaly can start for any varsity program in south texas.