SAN ANTONIO — The Hendrickson High School baseball team’s season came to an end with a 7-1 loss to Corpus Christi Calallen in the regional semifinal round of the 4A playoffs.

As they had been in the first game the Hawks were almost completely shut down by the Wildcat starter. This time it was Wyatt Mathison holding the Hendrickson bats at bay. The Calallen sophomore gave up six hits while striking out seven to earn the complete game win. By contrast Hawk hurler Will Birge struggled, surrendering three runs in the first inning and putting Hendrickson in a hole they could not climb out of. Birge went five innings in the game, allowing eight hits, five earned runs while striking out three. Brandon Kirkham pitched the final two innings of the game.

“Calallen’s pitchers did a great job keeping us off balance,” Hawk coach John Pineda said. “They were able to get ahead of us in the count and kept us guessing.”

Calallen put up three runs in the first inning and added another in the third to build a 4-0 lead. The Hawks tried to get a rally going in the top of the second. With one out Sam Swartz beat out an infield single and moved up one station when Cody Lunsford singled with two outs. Mathison retired Nathan Turner to stop the rally and keep the Hawks off the scoreboard.

It would be four more innings before Hendrickson would get another hit and they were trailing 6-0 when it finally came. Tyler Havins led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a shot to right field that resulted in a double. He moved to third when Tyler Baker grounded out to shortstop and came in to score when Patrick Burris did the same thing. The run was the first score for the Hawks in 13 innings against the Wildcats and it seemed they were primed to do more damage in the frame. Tyler Baker reached on an error to follow Burris and Trevor Seidenberger lined a single to put runners on first and second with two outs. Swartz also reached on a fielder’s choice when Wildcat shortstop Brett Bell tried to throw Seidenberger out at second base. Calallen’s second baseman was late covering the bag on the play and all runners were safe, loading the bases. Kirkham was up next for the Hawks but he could not deliver the big hit as Mathison struck him out to end the threat.

Hendrickson got a one-out single from Turner in the bottom of the seventh and a two-out infield hit from Baker to keep the inning alive, but the miracle rally was not to be. Burris hit a ground ball to second base to end the game and the Hawks season.

Hendrickson finishes the year 33-5, champions of District 25-4A and bi-district, area and regional quarterfinal champions as well. The game marked the end of the career for six Hawk starters as Baker, Seidenberger, Havins, Burris, Swartz and Todd Foster will all graduate. During their time at Hendrickson they have helped the program to back-to-back playoff appearances.

“I can’t say enough about them,” Pineda said of his seniors. “They are great kids on and off the field. Not only were they successful on the field they have also been successful in the classroom. We knew they were going to be a special group when they attended our baseball camp as eighth-graders. The players and their parents all trusted our coaching staff and allowed us to coach them. I can’t thank our seniors enough for their leadership and commitment to our program. They have raised the bar for our program and will be missed.”