BASEBALL Cavs edge Chaps, stay perfect in district

Eight runs marked the game. Their eight nms marked most a Ilowed by Lake the most allowed by this season. Travis this season. "Credit those guys; they kept battling away," said~. whose By Thomas Jones team remains alone at the top of tOJones@statesmar\com the district standings. • 11 was a typical rivalry game.• Westlake baseball coach J.T. Rogers got no argument from Blair shared something in com· Blai.r, whose team lost 14·4 to mon with his Lake Travis counter· u,e Cavs March 25 as Lake Tra• pan, Mike Rogers, following the vis completed the season sweep Cavs' surprisingly dramatic 10-8 of Westlake. win March 21 at cavalier Field. ..Give some credit to our kids Bou, managers showed an for staying in the game and bat­ appreciation for the Chaps' fight tling back and having some good in U1eseoond District ~A meet­ (al-bats),• he said. ing of the season be-tween the But an acknowledgement of two rivals. Wesllake's gril is the only thing Westlake (7•13, 7,7 llistrlcr 25-6A) in common right now between trailed 8-0 after the firs! three the Chaps and Lake Travis, two Innings before chipping away schools separated bYJust 12 mlles at the lead, and the Chaps had but six games in the district stand· the tying run In scoring posl• lngs. The Cavs, ranked third In Lake Travis• Brett Baty sUdes In home safe after Wes:tlake catcher Kevin Dally drops the ball during the tion in the seventh inning before OlstJlct 2S.6A varsity baseball aame between the Lake Ttav1sCavallers and the Westtake Chaparrals at Lake Travis 02+1, 6-0) closed the Baseball continued Oil A 7 Lake Ttavls High School on March 21. A-IOT0CRWT >OHNGUTIERREZ/FORAMERICAN-STA.TESMAN vis' Jong district winning to see those opportunities Baseball streak. They stranded JO go by and not take advan­ contlr"KI.O from A6 players, induding three dur­ tage of them.• ini;a11 opSLClass had Blair shaking his head problcmS4!iirly in the ~e. 6A poll by the High after the game, Lake Travis jimmy Lewis, a sophomore School Baseball Coaches ace Landon Ausley gave up who's heating up at the plate Assodadon, have now won two walks and a single by tn recent games, drove 1n a 23 consecutive

By Michael Schoeffel out six. Tristan Peevey and Lewis, the Cavaliers seven­ a District 25--6A title, split a degrift vs. Vista Ridge how the race for a district Contributing 'Writer Erique Hernandez, the top hole hitter, had went 3-for~ pair ofgames with Leander. Two teams hoping to chal­ crown will play out down two hitters in the lineup, each with a double, triple and four Vandegrift lost to the Lions lenge Lake Travis for a dis­ the stretch. WEEK IN REVIEW drove in a pair on runs. Five­ RBI in a Io--8 victory over West­ 1-0 on March 21 behind a trict title will square off for a Team of the Week: Hays hole bitter Andrew Cisneros lake on March 21. Lake Travis complete-game shutout by crucial three-game set next. Elsewhere The Rebels swept a pair of stole the show on March 24, completed the~reg­ Leander starter Erik Miller. Vandegrift enters the week in the district games with I Phman lastweek, going collecting two hits in ular season sweep ofthe Cliap; The Vipers exacted revenge at 7-2 in district play while March28: Lake Travis trav­ beatingthe Lobo694onMarch four at-bats, including a home on March 24, winning 144. with a 8-2 win on March 24, Vista Ridge, fresh off a week­ els to Lehman, Hays trav­ 21and8-lonMarch24. Weston run, and driving in three runs. behind three RBI from Grant long hiatus from league play, els to Leander... . March 31: Wolf twned in a quality start Haysentetstheweekonafour­ Elsewhere Prussel comes in at 5-1. Lake Travis hosts Lehman, on March 21, lasting six inning; game win streak. in the district The result of this three­ Hays hosts Leander.... April and aJlowingtwo bits and no Player-of the \Veek:Jnnmy Vandegrift, a team looking WEEK IN PREVIEW game set will likely have 1: Lake Travis hosts Lehman, ~ earned runs while striking Lewis, Lake Travis to chaJJenge Lake Travis for Game ofthe Week: Van- major ramifications for Hays travels to Leander. The Cavaliers defeated visiting San Antonio Churchill 4-0.

By Michael Schoeffel Contributing Writer

It took a halffor District 25-6A champion Lake Travis to find its groove, but once it did, there was no turning back. The Cavaliers defeated visit­ ing San Antonio Churchill 4-0 March 24 in a Class 6A bidistrict round match-up. Marcelo Mitre had a pair of goals for the Cava­ liers, and keeper Austin Branam came up with a crucial second­ half save to preserve the shut­ out. Lake Travis will next play San Antonio Stevens in the area round. Lake Travis (14-5-3) had not played a match since its regular­ season finale on March 10 against Vandegrift. The rust showed early, as the heavily favored Cavaliers took a scant 1-0 lead into the break thanks to a Harrison Tognela goal midway through the first half. Two Cavs - Vincente Cuadra and Joey Arney-were forced to play positions other than their primary ones due to injuries to other players, said Lake Travis head coach David Bammel. Bam­ mel also had to use his subs "ear­ lier than I typically would," as he put it, as Cooper Holt was handed a yellow card and Danny Tamkin had to take periodic breaks due to a hamstring issue. All in all, it added up to a first halffocused on feeling things out. "That was us getting back into the swing of things," said Bam­ mel. "That was us figuring out how to work together as a team again. I think there were jitters, too, with it being the first play­ off game. So we were battling a

Soccer continued on A8 Churchill had on the night. Soccer -All it takes is one goal to continued from A6 shift momentum in a 2-0 game," said Bammel. "The few things out there on the next thing you know, it's field at first." a game again. Austin did The second half was a greatjob of making sure smoother sailing. that didn't happen." The Cavaliers scored three Lake Travis' opponent in goals - two by Mitre, one by the next round, Stevens (13· Arney - within the first 25 2-5), defeated Wagner 5-2 minutes of the final frame. in the bidistrict round. The Branam came up with a Falcons have won or tied 10 timely save with Lake Tra­ games in a row and haven't vis leading 2-0 to thwart one lost since Feb. 10. the few legitimate chances Marcelo Mitre shoots on the SA ChurchIll &oalat Lake Travis, March 24.PM0TOSBVRO'f M4TA FORN:t4 Softball team secures 2nd place Lake Travis' softball team improved to 15-6 overall and 4-1 in District 25-6A with a 4-1 win at Vista Ridge March 24 . The win secured sole posses­ sion ofsecond place in the dis­ trict race for the Cavs. Hays entered the week atop the district standings with a 6-0 record. Vista Ridge and Westlake are tied for third place at 3-2, a game behind Lake Travis. SOFTBALL

FABFIVES CLASS6A 1. Hendrickson (1~0) 2. Cedar Ridge {l 5-5) 3.Bowle {16-3) 4.Hays {12-8) 5. Lake Travis (16-6) CLASS5A l .DrlpplngSprlng.s {21-5) 2.Elgln {18-5) 3.Rouse {17- 5) 4.Lockhart {17- 4) 5.Austln (10-4) CLASS4AANDBELOW l .LlbertyHIII (20- 1- 1) 2.Glddlngs (17- 6) 3.Thorndale ( 16-2) 4.Salado (18-5) 5.HydePark (13-5) , a 2009 gradu­ ate of Lake Travis High School, was signed by the Carolina Pan­ thers as a reserve quarterback March 24, the team announced. Gilbert will help substitute for starting quarterback Cam New­ ton as he recovers from surgery on a partially tom rotator cuff. He signed a I-year deal and will join backup quarterbacks Derek Anderson andJoe Webb in arAs. Gilbert, 25, led the Cavs to back-to-back Class 4A state foot­ ball titles in 2007 and 2008. He finished his prep career with 12,537 passing yards, which set a state record. He originally played for Texas before transferring to SMU. Gilbert was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL draft and was signed and then cut from the practice squad later that year. He also was a practice squad member of the , the Detroit Lions and the Oakland Raiders. He has not played in an NFL game. LAKEWAY Lal

Suspect arrested on 2200 block ofCedar Spring; Road be extradited to Dallas County. . ~~=, second-degree felony around 2:10 a.m., police said. Spelman, an alumna of Lake _-i- ~ "The driver walked back, Travis High School, graduated ...... ,i;ii,11 \', charge. looked at the pedestrian on the from Texas A&M University last ground, and fled in an unknown year and moved to Dallas to work By Rachel Rice and Mark W Iison direction,• police said in a news for Hewlett Packard. While in [email protected] release shortly after the crash. high school, Spelman was active [email protected] Dallas police received a tip Mon­ in DECA and worked at the Lake­ day that led them to an address way Activity Center as a lifeguard. A Lakeway woman was killed for Espana in Madill, Okla., police "As we grieve for our beloved Rachel Spelman, an alumna In a hit-and-run In central Dallas said in a blog post Tuesday. Rachel, I would like to also thank of Lake Travis High School, early March 18, Dallas police said. "Deputies advised our detec­ those witnesses that responded graduated from Texas A&M John Adrian Esparza has been tives that the vehicle had obvl­ immediately in an effort to assist Untverslty last year and moved arrested in connection with the ou.~ damage consistent with strik• and comfort her before the first to Dallas to w ork at Hewlett death of Rachel Spelman, 23. ing a pedestrian,• the post said. responders arrived," Spelman's Packard. CONTRlBUltD Esparza is charged with an acci­ After Esparza was taken into father, Tom Spelman, said in a dent involving death, a second­ custody, he made a full confession statement. "To you we are for­ degree felony punishable with to Dallas detectives, the blog said. ever grateful. I also ask that there Contact Rachel Rice at 512-445- up to 20 years in prison. Esparza is currently being held is improved safety for the pedes­ 3809. Contact Mark WIison at 512- Spelman was hit by a car in the in Marshall County Jail and will trians in the Uptown area." 445-3636.