By BRAD KEITH
TheFlashToday.com
(May 7, 2016) — Forget restoring the roar, Dublin baseball never had a roar to restore.
Until Kellen Cervetto took over as head coach.
Now, at the end of just its first season under Cervetto, the Lions, who did not win a single game in 2015, have won a playoff series for the first time in the 20 year history of the program.
Dublin swept Coleman in a Region I-3A bi-district series in Brownwood, winning 9-6 on Friday and 7-5 on Saturday. Next up for the Lions is Reagan County or Grape Creek in the area round.
“It’s a great feeling, but there’s still more baseball to be played, which is the best part,” said Cervetto, a Stephenville native and son of Dublin athletic director and head football coach Bob Cervetto. “It’s a great program win. We’ve been preaching to the kids since we got here that it’s all about how you handle adversity, and we faced some more of it this weekend and handled it well. The results are there, it shows on the field.”
Dublin came from behind with four runs in the bottom of the sixth on Friday, winning in the post season for the first time in school history. The Lions reached the playoffs in 2006, but did not win a game. They reached a district playoff with a spot in the state playoffs on the line in 1999, but lost.
Staff ace Jeremy Yarbrough went the distance on the hill Saturday, and he got to play from in front the whole way.
Dublin scored four runs in the top of the first, two of them on a Justin Ricks double. Coleman cut it to 4-2 before RBIs from Josh Hanes and Race Jackson gave Dublin all the breathing room it would need despite tallying just four hits on the afternoon.
“They’re pitcher was good, and they could hit the ball, so we knew this was going to be a challenge,” said Kellen Cervetto. “Our kids fought hard and played well. Every time we faced adversity we responded. We didn’t have a lot of hits, but we made big plays with our aggression on the bases that generated some runs for us.”
Coleman did pull within 6-4 before each team scored in the seventh to reach the final.
“We’re still alive, that’s all I know,” Cervetto said. “We’re alive and we’re playing some pretty good baseball.”
The best in Dublin High School history, in fact.
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