Jake Henley busts out of slump for Idalou baseball to complete sweep of Denver City

LITTLEFIELD — Jack Henley needed something to go his way.

Entering Friday's second game of the Region I-3A baseball area-round playoff series with Denver City, the Idalou third baseman was having a rough go of things at the plate. In the team's previous six games, Henley went hitless in three of them, going 4-for-19 in that span.

Things were amplified early on Friday. Denver City leadoff man Johnathan Martinez hit a routine grounder to Henley to start the game. Henley's throw over to first pulled Carter Crump from the bag, allowing Martinez to reach safely. He had another error in the second inning.

Luckily, the Mustangs couldn't capitalize on either Henley miscue. The same could not be said for Idalou's ace pitcher Tate Hendley.

The senior southpaw was far from his best in the early going. Denver City stranded six batters in the first three frames, Hendley able to work out of tight jams. In the fourth, the Mustangs got to him, scoring four runs to take a 4-3 lead.

Somebody had to step up if Idalou was going to finish the sweep. Like Henley's teammates had his back after his defensive misfires, he had Hendley's back at the plate.

Henley busted out of his hitting slump with a go-ahead, two-run triple in the bottom of the fifth, later adding the final run on a passed ball. Idalou finished off the sweep with a 6-4 victory to advance to the region quarterfinals.

The decisive hit even caught Henley guard because of what head coach Thomas Brockman was asking him to do initially.

"I've kind of been struggling lately, and he gives me a bunt," Henley said. "I missed that, then he gives me a slash, which kind of gets me back on my back foot, stay back and it hit it where it was pitched and put in the gap out there."

Henley accounted for four of Idalou's six runs. He drove in the first score of the game on an RBI groundout and Derek Cantu followed with a solo homer off the scoreboard in left field.

Denver City, though, kept threatening. The Mustangs left the bases loaded in the third and looked ready to do it again in the fourth before Samrey Garcia and Javen Yanez produced run-scoring hits back-to-back. Another run came across before Hendley was able to get out of the frame, the bases still loaded for the Mustangs.

"We know what we're going to get from Tate," Brockman said, "and I feel like we're going to do a good job, no matter what he does, at the plate. We just need him to do his job, to throw strikes and let our defense play behind him when he's on the mound."

Finding the strike zone was the issue for Hendley. Through four innings, he hit three batters, walked another and gave up eight hits.

As the seasoned veteran, Hendley didn't let the one bad inning derail his team's chances. He retired the final nine batters he faced, striking out four of his final five before being taken out in the seventh due to reaching the pitch-count limit.

"That's part of pitching, you know," Hendley said. "Things don't always go your way and it was definitely that today. But you just got to keep believing in the fight. You really just have to want it and dig down deep, then it'll always come out in your favor."

Appropriately, the final out of the game was decided by Hendley, Henley and Crump. On to pitch in relief, Crump needed one pitch to get a bouncer to Henley at third, who threw over to Hendley at first for the game-clinching play.

Just how locked in was Hendley for the final three innings? After the game, each finger on his pitching hand had blood seeping through the nails. His jersey, pants and a towel were coated in the red stuff. He's not quite sure how it got to that point — perhaps from nail biting because he was so nervous — or how he didn't even notice it until after the game, nor did he seem to mind.

"Blood, sweat and tears, you know?" Hendley joked.

As seniors on this year's Idalou team, Hendley and Henley said they know any game they play from this point on could be their last, so they're trying to make the most of it while they head deeper into the postseason.

"That's the pressure," Hendley said, "and that's also the fun of it. Pressure and fun. Just thinking this is the last time so you go out and show out and do whatever it takes."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Henley busts out of slump for Idalou baseball to complete sweep of Denver City