A.J. Gaona struck out six batters while Bishop High School’s varsity baseball team defeated Riviera- Kaufer in the third and deciding game of the Region IV quarterfinals held in Robstown last week. Bishop is scheduled to face Weimar in a best-of-three Region IV Semifinal series. Game One will be at 8 p m. at Cibolo- Steele (North San Antonio) on Thursday. Game Two will be at 1:30 p m. at the San Antonio Independent School District Athletic Complex (West San Antonio) on Saturday. If necessary, Game Three will begin thirty minutes after the conclusion of Game Two. (Photo by Rey Sifuentes Jr.) After losing Game One (4- 3) on Thursday, Bishop High School’s varsity baseball team took Game Two (5-1) on Friday and Game Three (7-2) on Saturday en route to eliminating Riviera-Kaufer from the playoffs in a bestof three series of the Region IV Quarterfinals held in Robstown.

Pitchers Carl Huizar (nine strikeouts) and Heston Van Fleet (five) duked it in Game Two. Ricky Falcon scored the game’s first point with a lead-off home run in the first inning.

Bishop scored all five of their runs in the fifth frame. Tres Figueroa batted in two runs with a single, Jacob Beltran dodged a rundown by Kaufer between third base and home, and a double by Tommy Cavazos brought in two more.

A.J. Gaona (six strikeouts) started Game Three for the Badgers while the Seahawks inserted J.D. Moya (three) for Falcon in the second inning. Bishop jumped ahead, in the first inning through a single by Tommy Cavazos. Robert Gaona and Jacob Beltran both hit scoring doubles in the second inning. Gaona then reached home during a throwing error which encompassed a collision between Kaufer First baseman Hubba Reynolds and Bishop runner Dylan Horner.

Kaufer got on the scoreboard in the third frame on a double by Falcon. Moya batted in another run for the Seahawks at the top of the sixth inning. A.J. Gaona, however, stretched Bishop’s eventual game winning advantage when his double brought in three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Badger Head Coach Nathan Borden said his team quickly overcame the Game One miscues which brought them defeat.

“We just decided to forget them because that is not our brand of baseball, it’s not what got us to the regional finals last year,” Borden said. “At our team meeting (after Game One) we just decided to put that one behind us. The most important thing was the next game and we set our sights on that.”

Ranked as the number one team in the state earlier this season, Borden said the pressure of holding on to the top spot was both a blessing and a hindrance.

“I definitely feel we are not overlooked, we started out the year number one in the state and it was kind of a bad thing for us in the sense that the guys were thinking ‘it doesn’t matter’.” Borden said. “Still, it was there and we had a big target on our backs which both helped and hurt us in a way. Getting rid of that ranking - not on purpose of course - took that target of our back and allowed us to refocus on improving some of the things we were not doing as well as we wanted to.”

Kaufer Skipper Joseph R. Pickens (who confirmed his intent of not returning to Riviera Independent School District next year) applauded his team.

“These guys have practiced and played hard every day and I couldn’t ask anymore from them,” Pickens said. “They’re fighters, we won district in a division, where as you just saw, the third place finisher came back to win the region quarters.”

Bishop now faces Weimar in a best-of-three series in the Region IV Semifinals.