BUDA — Through rainy conditions at Buda Hays High School, the Burton Panthers (18-10) found consistent hitting at the right time twice to earn an area championship.

Burton took two games over Harper (17-11) by scores of 5-1 and 12-2 to advance to the Conference 2A Division II regional semifinals, earning their second area championship in the last three years.

Game 1

Burton 5, Harper 1

The opening game of the doubleheader became a pitcher’s duel with hits valuable early on.

Tyler Witt represented Burton on the mound with a terrific effort. He spent the first five innings dominating the Longhorns, striking out seven batters with just two hits and two walks allowed.

He pitched confidently on the mound, knowing his teammates behind him would back him up defensively. Burton’s defense provided Witt five errorless innings to begin the day.

Yet, Burton failed to give him run support. Harper’s Braydon Lake may not have struck out many batters, but he induced outs consistently while getting swings early in counts.

Burton coach Matt Thaler said his team put together good swings, but could not find balls to leak into the outfield on the ground or through the air.

“We were just hitting right at them,” he said. “We were not striking out and I told the guys, ‘This is baseball. You got to stay with it. Keep on swinging the bat.’”

Witt looked to be in another smooth inning in the sixth with his eighth strikeout of the game starting the inning as well as inducing a line out to second baseman Logan Tosta.

Tosta could not make a play to close the inning the following at-bat, though, as a ground ball went off of his foot and trickled into the outfield.

A ground ball into center field afterward looked to be an ordinary base hit. However, the ball got away from center fielder Rueben Rodriguez with his error allowing Harper to open the scoring.

Burton entered the dugout for the seventh with a positive attitude, knowing it had to score anyway to win the game. Rodriguez’s mistake motivated him to make up for his error in the seventh inning.

“The mindset when I lose is I got to do something for our team to get us back the momentum,” he said.

After Ryder Biggs led the inning off with a base hit, Rodriguez got his chance to put a bunt in play, an area Burton has worked on throughout the season.

A well-executed bunt led to a throwing error from Lake. Another bad Harper throw to third base allowed Biggs to score and tie the game.

Thaler said a year-long bunting philosophy was executed well for one of the first times all season Thursday in a pivotal moment.

“We bunted all year in practice and we struggled and it finally worked and turned out big in this game,” he said. “Bunting was big in this series.”

Brady Griffin later gave Burton a 2-1 lead after reaching base on an error from Harper third baseman Blane Craig.

Witt added to Burton’s lead on a bases-loaded walk with two outs on the board. Tosta provided more support with a two-RBI base hit into left field.

Three of Burton’s five hits and both of its walks in Game 1 came in the seventh inning. Houston Hodde joined Biggs and Tosta in the hit column in the last frame.

Witt never wavered throughout his start as he figured his team would find a way to give run support like its five-run seventh inning.

“You got to get a run or two to win the game, so I knew we would eventually get it one way or another,” he said.

Biggs came on to the mound in a two-out relief outing after Witt reached the maximum on his pitch count. He induced two fielder’s choice outs to give Burton a key win.

Game 2

Burton 12, Harper 2

Burton entered the second game of the night riding high on confidence. Biggs said that confidence ran at an eight on a 1-10 scale.

Even after pitcher Eli Jaeger gave up a solo home run in the top of the first, that confidence showed at the plate in a team-wide effort.

Burton produced 12 hits and six hits in the nightcap and got things going with a two-run first inning. Catcher Braydon Martin produced a two-RBI single into right field to flip the Panthers’ one-run deficit into a lead.

A sacrifice fly in the third inning from Griffin and an RBI single from Jaeger in the fourth added on to Burton’s lead before the Panthers flexed their bats in the fifth frame.

Burton produced seven singles, two walks and a sacrifice bunt for an eight-run inning, which allowed the game to end with a run-rule victory.

Griffin began the inning’s scoring by coming home on a passed ball. Tosta later produced an RBI single into left field to drive in Matt Roemer.

Witt came home on another Harper passed ball with Biggs driving Tosta home on a ground ball single to center field, extending the Panthers’ lead to 8-2.

Biggs came home to score on a Harper error in center field with Jaeger earning another RBI single to extend the Burton lead to 10-2. After a walk and a hit batter, Hodde produced a bases-loaded walk to put the Panthers within a run of the run rule.

Roemer delivered a ground ball into left field for the final RBI single of the inning, bringing home Coy Gurka and giving Burton its 12-2 victory.

“Hitting is contagious in my book,” Thaler said. “When everybody is hitting, it makes it easier for the coach, too.”

Eight of Burton’s nine hitters earned at least one hit in Game 2. Biggs, Jaeger, Martin and Roemer produced two-hit games with Jaeger and Martin providing two RBI.

Roemer earned his second multi-hit game of the year in Thursday’s nightcap. Jaeger produced his second multi-hit game of the postseason.

Biggs said he saw Harper pitcher William Spaeth’s slider well, allowing him to take advantage of good pitches to hit.

Jaeger pitched all five innings in Game 2, earning five strikeouts while allowing three hits, two walks and two runs.

Thaler and his players expressed excitement over advancing to the third round of the playoffs, a step further than last year’s team finished its postseason run.

“It has been a couple years since we have been to round three, so it is awesome,” the coach said. “From here on out, just keep playing and having fun. That is the name of baseball.”

Burton will face either Flatonia or Freer in the regional semifinals next week. The Flatonia-Freer matchup took place as a Friday doubleheader with a third game, if needed, scheduled for Saturday.