The Sealy Tiger baseball team closed the first round of play within District 24-4A with a 5-0 win over Navasota last Friday at Aubrey “Mutt” Stuessel Stadium and improved its record to 4-1.

Sealy’s senior starting pitcher Rhys Reichardt allowed only two hits and struck out eight Rattler batters over the course of his complete-game shutout. Navasota registered singles in the second and fifth innings and had a batter reach on an error in the seventh to account for all of its baserunners.

Reichardt said he and the squad have picked up confidence since district play started and last Friday they just continued to ride that wave.

“I thought I came out pretty hot – I thought all the guys came out pretty hot – and I knew that if I came in and limited the hits, my defense would do the rest,” Reichardt said after the win. “Then all we were waiting on were the bats and lately the bats have been hot.”

It was Reichardt who helped his own cause and started the Tigers’ three-run fourth inning with a one-out double. Blake Zaskoda followed with an RBI triple before Jose Bludau, DeMarques Thompson and Garret Nedd supplied singles where Bludau and Nedd registered the other two RBI in the inning.

Sealy added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth where Bludau doubled and later scored on an overthrow and Thompson, who reached on a dropped third strike, was singled in by a Dylan Thaxton bunt to push the hosts’ advantage to five.

Reichardt said the Tiger batters just executed the simple mantra of “Attacking fastballs and if he hangs it, we bang it,” but head coach Dane Bennett elaborated on the spark in his response.

“We’re starting to hit the baseball when we have guys on base, that’s been the key,” the skipper said. “All season long, guys have been hitting the baseball, we’ve been free and easy when there haven’t been guys on but we get a little tense and muscled up when guys get on base. Throughout district so far and tonight, we have executed really well with guys on base and that’s been the difference maker for us and that’s why we’re 4-1 and not 1-4.”

Of course, it also helps when the senior leader limits the other team to three baserunners over seven innings.

“He’s had three really good starts this district, was unlucky in one of them but tonight he ended on a super high note for the first round,” Bennett said of Reichardt. “To record a two-hit shutout, you’ve got to be throwing the baseball pretty dang well to do that. … It’s what he’s been doing for me this whole year so it’s not new but I know as a pitcher it’s not easy and everything he’s been giving us this year is huge.”

At the plate for Sealy, Haden Wernecke joined Bludau in producing a twohit evening and Dillon Dornak also reached base with a hit to secure the second district win in as many tries this month and helped flip the script from the lackluster start to the non-district schedule.

“Before district started, one of our talks on the bus was about how tough times don’t last but tough people do and I truly believe that our guys have bought in to that quote specifically and have shown that they’re as tough-minded as can be,” Bennett said. “Now going into round two, the teams are not going to just sit there. Before, we were 4-13 so they looked at our record and thought, ‘We’ll take care of these guys, whatever.’ That’s not going to happen in round two.”

with four of our five games on the road, tough guys and good teams find ways to win on the road.”

The Tigers traveled to El Campo earlier this week and will close this week of play with a Friday trip to Royal. Next week features a Tuesday matchup in Bellville before the home finale against Wharton April 23. Sealy finishes the regular season in Navasota April 27 and Bennett agreed that the coaches will learn a lot in this home stretch.

“Going back to the quote … tough guys and good teams find ways to win on the road,” Bennett said. “It will be a good test for us but we have high expectations of where we want to be with this season and that has never changed. We’ll get a good feel of where we really truly are as a team in that second round with all the away games.”