Aztecs upset No. 2 Spartans in D-VI postseason

What did No. 2-seeded Strathmore’s baseball team do after it lost to No. 3 Farmersville, 7-3, in the Division VI playoffs?

They went to Disneyland anyway.

Though the Spartans had defeated Farmersville three times during the season, a trip to the happiest place on earth for the seniors’ grad night helped take the edge off.

Strathmore, which graduates eight seniors, mustered just two hits against a tough Aztec pitcher, Lance Blake, who struck out eight in six innings.

“It’s hard to beat a team four times,” Spartans coach John Houey said. “They outplayed us and played better defense.”

Strathmore led, 2-1, after the second inning in which they picked up one run off a fielder’s choice and another off an RBI single by Mario Lemus.

The Aztecs reeled off five runs in the fourth inning to go up 6-2, however, and the Spartans wouldn’t come back despite a solo home run that same inning by Alex Maciel.

Strathmore pitcher Brian Chapa threw for all seven innings and struck out eight while giving up six hits. But the senior walked two and hit two batters that resulted in four of the seven runs.

Had the Spartans defeated Farmersville, they would’ve been one game away from winning the Valley championship with No. 1 McFarland standing in the way.

“We were very close,” Houey said, “but we had four errors that kept the innings going and that hurt us.”

Strathmore finished the season at 9-15 overall.