Legacy notches win over Faith Lutheran

Feeling his team could struggle at the plate in only its second season at the varsity level, Legacy baseball coach Bill Dexheimer has preached “routine plays” in hopes of building a successful program.

The Longhorns took a step in that direction Monday with a 6-3 home win over Faith Lutheran.

“We’re not going to hit a lot of balls to the gap,” Dexheimer said. “We’re pretty young. Even though we have a lot of juniors and seniors, we don’t have a lot of experience at the varsity level.”

Legacy (1-1) used a three-run second inning to take a 4-1 lead into the third and never trailed afterward.

Sophomore catcher Jayson Henderson was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored for the Longhorns, who had three players drive in at least one run.

“When you have runners on base, you’ve just got to get (the ball) in play and score them,” Henderson said. “That’s how you win.”

In contrast, Faith Lutheran (1-5) stranded 10 runners, including six in scoring position.

The Crusaders loaded the bases in the fifth and had the potential tying run at the plate in the seventh but didn’t score in either inning.

“We just left too many runners on base,” Faith Lutheran coach Tony Girod said. “That’s kind of the way we’ve been doing things right now, so we’re working hard at trying to change the approach at the plate.

“You can’t get that many opportunities and not push some across.”

Austin Christiansen was 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Longhorns, and Chase Skinner drove in two runs.

Nick Bata went 2-for-4 with an RBI, a double, a stolen base and a run scored to lead Faith Lutheran.

The Crusaders have only five players back from a team that went 15-1 in the Class 3A Southern League last season before an 0-2 postseason.

Legacy starter Joey Lauria earned the win. The 6-foot-3-inch junior right-hander lasted four innings, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks.

“(Lauria) got behind too many of their hitters, but I think he made a decent adjustment and got us to where we needed to be to get a win,” Dexheimer said.