Return to state: London sweeps Santa Gertrudis Academy to punch state ticket
London knew it had a chance to have a special season with the return of nearly every player from last season’s state championship team.
The Pirates won another district title in 2023, cruised through the playoffs and once again, put themselves in position to return to the state tournament in Round Rock.
London’s hopes of remaining the best team in Region IV came to fruition on Saturday after defeating district rival Santa Gertrudis Academy 8-0 in Game 2 of the Region IV-3A final at Calallen's Steve Chapman Field.
Mason Jacob set the tone with a two-run home run in the first inning and Texas A&M commit Blayne Lyne pitched six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts to help the Pirates punch their ticket to the state tournament for the third consecutive season.
"It's pretty special," said Jacob, who homered, doubled and singled in Saturday's win. "We've set a standard that it's state or nothing now. That's what we work for every year and that's our goal."
London enters the state tournament on a 20-game winning streak and a 32-3 record.
The Pirates will try and defend their state title on Friday at Dell Diamond in Round Rock and will have a semifinal opponent once seeding is determined.
"It's really special," London co-coach Kevin Carr said of advancing to the state tournament three years in a row. "I'm not sure how many teams have done it before. It means a lot and we're not done yet."
Saturday’s highlights
Mason Jacob's home run in the second inning against Lions starter Ryan Carrillo gave the Pirates the lead for good in Game 2. London added three more runs in the second on a wild pitch, a throwing error and an RBI fielder's choice by RJ Olivaras. The Pirates pushed across another run in the third on a throwing error by SGA and Landon Salinas gave London a 7-0 lead on an RBI double in the fourth. Adin Ruiz had both of Santa Gertrudis Academy's hits with two singles against London ace Blayne Lyne. Lyne shined on the mound for the Pirates after striking out seven in six scoreless innings.
Saturday’s stars
Jacob and Salinas each finished with three hits and three RBI to lead London's offense on Saturday. Lyne was masterful after holding the Lions to two hits in six shut out innings. Lyn's seven strikeouts gave him 97 for the season. Ethan Ortega had three strikeouts for London, including a scoreless seventh inning to secure the Pirates' win. Ruiz had both of SGA's two hits.
They said it
London co-coach Albert Amaya on returning to the state tournament: "Like we tell our team, you never know when this opportunity is going to come up again. We let them know even if we've done it the last two years, it's not for sure. It's been such a long grueling season and it's a blessing to be back in this position."
London co-coach Kevin Carr on the Pirates' young core of players getting a chance to defend their title: "Those freshman were standing right by the dugout watching and now it's their time. They feel great and they're doing a good job for us. We're really proud of them."
London junior Landon Salinas on what makes this year's team special: "The group gets along, on the field and off the field. We have a great connection and that's what makes us special."
London junior Mason Jacob on setting the tone with his his two-run home run in the first inning: "I know we needed a big start coming out because it's Game 2 and it's another big game. Me hitting that home run set it off for us and got us going."
Santa Gertrudis Academy coach Frank Galvan on looking ahead to next season: "It was good for us. I had a great group of seniors with 10 of them. There's going to be some rebuilding in the offseason, but we did good. We were predicted maybe last and being in the middle of London, that's a good team over there, Hats off to them."
Up next
London vs. TBA, in a UIL Class 3A state semifinal matchup, Friday, June 9, TBA.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: London sweeps Santa Gertrudis Academy to return to UIL state tourney
