SAN ANTONIO – In a series featuring the Boerne Greyhounds and Bishop Badgers, the last thing anyone expected to see before their game Friday at Wolff Stadium was a turtle.
“We actually found it (the turtle) today,” Boerne head coach Geoff Curtin said. “The kids call it the ‘rally turtle.’ I guess it worked.”
Boerne players said they found the turtle in a parking lot Friday morning and brought it to the game as a good luck charm.
“It is a ‘rally turtle,’ but it’s a little nervous,” Boerne pitcher Jackson Grimes said.
The Greyhounds posed for pictures with their rally turtle after defeating Bishop 1-0 in Game 2 of a UIL Class 4A regional semifinals series.
With the two-game sweep, Boerne is moving on to the regional final round.
On the mound, Grimes allowed just one hit in his complete game shutout.
“I think it’s really important just to be able to get momentum and go into the next series feeling confident,” Grimes said. “And going into the week feeling good. … Good hitting, good on the field. I don’t think we had any errors. Great effort from everyone.”
Boerne infielder Hutson Hendrix broke a 0-0 tie in the sixth inning with a single to left field. The hit was enough to allow outfielder Walker Hill to score from second base.
“It was huge,” Hendrix said. “They’re (Bishop) a really good team, but we trust in ourselves. We trust each other, and we knew the balls would fall. (It was) just a matter of time.”
The Greyhounds will advance to face Corpus Christi Calallen, who completed its own series sweep against Needville on Friday night.
“Anytime you can sweep a series, that’s huge,” Curtin said. “It speaks to the testament of these kids. We battled and battled. I told them earlier, ‘Whether we win by 10 or by one, we have to have one more at the end.’ It was nice to get that.”
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