Badgers executed little things, and it paid huge dividends
Commentary
By JEREMY HEATH Staff Writer

Justin Rainwater, left, and Cody Bailey each hit oppositefield home runs in helping to lead the Badgers to a 7-4 win against playoff-bound Cedar Park Vista Ridge on Tuesday.

Two deep flies, some sparkling defense and a solid pitching performance highlighted the Badger baseball team's 7-4 win over playoff-bound Vista Ridge Tuesday night.

But those sweeping generalizations about the game wouldn't be possible without some almost subliminal factors. The Badgers executed a lot of things on Tuesday that do not show up in the box score.

First, the home runs hit by right-handers Cody Bailey and Justin Rainwater were to rightcenter field. Both came on pitches out over the plate, and both were perfect examples of how to attack such pitches.

Without changing the timing of their strides, both Bailey and Rainwater kept their weight and hands back a split-second longer than normal, which allowed them to swing aggressively at the pitches they already had identified as over the outside corner of the plate. (Bailey later proved it no fluke, as he blistered a double off the wall in right-center.)

After the game, Rainwater said it's an aspect of his hitting he and head coach Brian McBeth have been working on all year. Rainwater hit a home run earlier this year at the Killeen Shoemaker Tournament, but he turned on that pitch and pulled it to left field. He said the homer Tuesday was more satisfying because of the importance of the game (Senior Night) and the fact that he got to show a new ability at the plate.

"Coach has been teaching us all year long to go the other way with those pitches, and tonight it finally paid off," Rainwater said.

The second major factor is that LHS won the head-to-head battle behind the plate. While Vista Ridge allowed three runs to score on wild pitches and passed balls, LHS catcher Coleton Lucas took away two potential runs and produced one, nailing two runners trying to steal second and plating a run with a single.

That's a five-run difference in a three-run game.

The third thing that stood out to me was third baseman Chance Vann's mental toughness in the top of the seventh inning.

COURTESY PHOTO LMS seventh-grader Marcus Kehoe's vault of 12 feet would have finished second at the District 25-4A varsity boys' meet.

In the fourth inning, Vista Ridge tied the game at 4-4, picking on Vann with a couple of bunts and eventually forcing him into an error with a hard-hit ball that bounced in and out of his glove.

But in the seventh with two men on base, Vann caught a foul pop down the left-field line that was anything but routine, and ended the game by scooping a tough one-hopper and firing a rocket to first.

Baseball is a sport played between the ears. Confidence and mental toughness separate good players from average ones.

Vann's ability to shake off the fourth inning and make a couple of tough plays showed his potential to be a good player for this program.

*

I have to admit I've kind of let an outstanding performance slip through the cracks this spring, so I'm going to use a little bit of space to make sure the people of Lampasas know about LMS seventh-grader Marcus Kehoe.

Kehoe first made a name for himself in the fall as quarterback for his Badger team. He made quite a few big plays with his legs during the course of the season and ran the offense with the efficiency of a typical coach's son -- his father, Mark, is an assistant principal at LHS and the school's former head football coach.

What Marcus did in pole vault pits around the area, however, almost defies logic. He vaulted 11 feet to open the season, setting a school record, and improved by a foot by the district meet. To put that into perspective, his 12-foot vault would have finished second at the District 25-4A varsity boys' meet and advanced him to the Region IV-4A Meet.

Did I mention this young athlete is a seventh-grader?

LHS Athletics Director Joey McQueen works with the pole vaulters at the high school, and he took the prodigy under his wing.

"When I got here last year, Marcus had been working with his uncle Tyson Chandler, and Tyson taught him a lot of the fundamentals and technique that you need to be a successful pole vaulter," McQueen said. "His dad also has him on the right track with everything he does, getting him to camps and individual training."

Last summer, Kehoe competed in San Antonio and cleared 9-6. After football season, he had knee surgery and wasn't cleared to vault until the week before the season started. Despite that, he improved by two feet, six inches in less than a year.

"I've never in my 26 years of coaching seen a kid vault like him as seventh-grader," McQueen said. That's because it's a technique sport, and it takes so much work to be good. People think you can just go out there and do it, but you can't. You have to be dedicated, and Marcus is dedicated."

After receiving a tip from an interested Dispatch Record reader and avid track fan, I started Googling track results for middle school and junior high athletes from around the nation.

While my simple searches are anything but official, I'll go out on a limb and say Kehoe is one of the top five seventh-grade vaulters in the country.

The Kehoe family is planning a move to the Midland area soon, so Marcus likely will not be vaulting in Badger Blue at the high school level.

That doesn't mean his impact on Lampasas hasn't already been a significant one.

Good luck, Marcus.

Jeremy Heath is the Dispatch Record's sports editor. His column appears Fridays. He can be contacted via e-mail at jheath@lampasas.com.