Going out in Style: Loranger moves to quarterfinals behind Holton’s 1-hit, 11K effort
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
LORANGER – The anticipated emotions for Loranger pitcher Hayes Holton wouldn’t come until later.
Holton, a Texas signee and the state’s top-rated right-handed pitcher, was nearing his allotted pitch count after one out in the bottom of the seventh when his coach, Derek Sims, replaced him with Tanner Matherne to finish out Thursday’s Division II select state regional playoff.
With the Wolves in firm control with a 7-1 lead, Holton was given a rousing ovation by a standing-room-only crowd that witnessed the final outing of his career.
“I was just trying to give it all I had,” Holton said. “All of the blood, sweat, and tears I left on this field, and I accomplished that. I had no real emotional thoughts. I’ll be emotional tonight when I think about it. The one goal I was thinking about before the game was to pound the zone and get outs. That’s what was running through my head until he pulled me in the seventh.”
Sixth-seeded Loranger advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first time in 12 years with a 7-1 victory over No. 11 Archbishop Hannan. The Wolves (20-8) swept the best-of-three series, opening Wednesday with an 8-5 victory, to reach next week’s quarterfinal against the winner of the Teurlings Catholic-Leesville series, which began Friday.
For Loranger to get another home series, they would need No. 14 Leesville to upset third-seeded Teurlings.
“It’s hit me,” Holton’s younger brother Hyatt, a junior left fielder who doubled and drove in four runs. “This is our last home game together. It’s gone by quickly. You have to take it all in.”
Hayes Holton pitched once again under the spotlight of Major League scouts who have chronicled his every start this season. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder, who has the state’s highest recorded pitch of 97 miles per hour this season, was staked to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and was never severely threatened thereafter.
Holton carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning when Hannan center fielder Colt Manning sent a hot smash down the third-base line for a run-scoring double that scored Noah Yonker, who walked.
He walked four and struck out 11, reaching 105 pitches after his final strikeout. Matherne, who picked up the save in Wednesday’s triumph, fanned the only two batters he faced.
“I was a little upset,” Holton said of his departure. “He didn’t want to get caught with me going over my pitch count. When he called time, and he was walking out, I figured he was coming to get me. I had all of the faith in Tanner. It hurt a little bit to not finish it out. We won that game, and I’m happy.”
Sims had Holton’s best interest at heart.
“I would have loved for him to have finished out the game,” he said. “I didn’t want to threaten the pitch count (maximum of 115). When he’s getting ahead of batters with all three pitches, he’s really tough.”
Holton understands the drill when he takes the mound. He tries to show four of his pitches in warmups before turning his attention to the batters and blocks out the army of scouts who are armed with radar guns and note pads.
“I threw the same four pitches in between every inning, fastball, slider, change-up, and fastball down,” he said. “I try to get those looks there when I’m warming up. When it comes to game time, I just compete my tail off. I’m not really down for it for them or me. I’m doing it for the guys that play behind me.”
One of the scouts in attendance on Thursday had tracked Holton since last summer’s East Coast Pro national event. He’s also watched them three other times and continues to come away impressed with his mental makeup and physical abilities.
“He’s very competitive, with how much he cares about it,” the scout said. “He wants to win. Those are intangibles you look for in kids. I think he’s got that. The pitching speaks for itself. The will to win and the will to figure it out, he does a good job with it.”
The scout said, based on his upper 90’s fastball, coupled with his slider and breaking pitches, Holton’s a prospect to consider for the first day of the MLB Draft (July 11), which consists of three rounds.
“Him being able to show that he can do it multiple times through the order has probably been his biggest jump from last year to this year,” he said. “He has the ability and stuff the third time through the order to start games at the next level.
“He’s got two different breaking balls, a slider and curve depending on the competition,” he said. “I’m a big fan of the change-up, too. It’s a hidden pitch sometimes for guys who can showcase 94-95.”
When he’s not pitching, Holton is the team’s starting shortstop, another applicable trait scouts are looking for. He also bats .324 atop the Wolves’ lineup and doubled to lead off Thursday’s game.
“You’re paying guys a certain amount of money, you’re going to want 30 starts a year,” he said. “Guys that are not athletic don’t usually make 30 starts without a doctor’s appointment. The athlete (part) helps. We’re out here in late April, and he’s done enough to keep himself in that discussion.
“He’s from a small town, and he’s obviously done a good job of getting himself in the right circle,” he said. “He controls his game very well. When he pitches, it’s his game. That’s something that’s stood out to us.”
Loranger experienced three straight losing seasons during Holton’s career, losing twice in the first round of the state playoffs.
The Wolves, in Sims’ second season, have experienced one of the school’s best seasons in more than a decade with a solid-hitting team that has pitching depth to complement Holton.
“It’s a really talented group that’s played a lot of baseball in the last three years,” Sims said. “They had a lot of turnover coaching staff-wise, so I think I was able to bring some stability with the coaching staff and just let them thrive and grow. Last year, we kind of went through our growing pains.
“We were about .500 (13-14), but we learned what it takes to win, and we took a jump offensively,” Sims said. “We kind of had to figure out how to win again this year, but once we figured it out, we got really hot, and we’ve been playing really good baseball.”
Loranger began the season 5-5 with all five losses coming by one run.
“We had the leads late,” Sims said. “It showed us how close we were to being really, really good. We learned how to win games and how mistakes will help you lose games. That was really healthy for us. It didn’t feel like it at the time. It helped us learn a lot of things and give us a lot of confidence going forward.”
It wasn’t until a one-run win over Slidell on March 5 – 7-6 – that Loranger began to show signs of a team worthy of contending for a district title and making a deep playoff run.
The Wolves reeled off 12 wins over a 14-game stretch – including three by one run – and they went on to capture the District 7-4A championship by a game over Lakeshore.
Tanner Matherne’s been the team’s top pitcher with a 7-2 record and 1.20 ERA, while his brother Logan, a Copiah-Lincoln Community College signee, is 5-1 following a win in Wednesday’s opening game of the regional series.
“We have a team that can swing the bat,” Sims said. “Wyatt’s been over .450 all year (currently at .477) and has a really good bat. Myles Cunningham has been swinging it well, along with Hyatt Holton. We’re pretty fortunate that our lineup’s pretty deep. When we’re not striking out, we put a lot of pressure on other teams, which takes pressure off of our pitching and defense.”
Loranger got another shot at Hannan (13-20), a team that it swept 7-6 and 11-1 in district play.
The Wolves overcame a one-run deficit in the first inning of the series opener on Tanner Matherne’s two-run homer – his second of the season, and Hyatt Holton’s sacrifice fly made it 3-1.
Logan Matherne forced in a run with a bases-loaded walk when Loranger’s defense suffered three of its four errors, allowing for two runs. The Wolves countered with a three-run fourth for a 7-3 lead on consecutive run-scoring singles from Garofalo, Cunningham, and Hyatt Holton.
Tanner Matherne was summoned in the fifth with Hannan haven loaded the bases and scored twice on back-to-back hit batters. He was able to record consecutive outs and preserve a 7-5 lead.
Loranger had Hayes Holton going in the second game and handed him a 4-0 lead at the top of the first. Logan Matherne’s sacrifice fly made it 1-0, the first of five errors in the game, which led to a second run, when Hyatt Holton sent a one-hopper through the middle for a 2-run single.
“I was just trying to hit the ball hard with runners in scoring position, and it worked out for me,” Hyatt said.
Hannan reliever Chris Stone slowed Loranger’s offense until the fifth, when Kade Signorelli singled home Hyatt Holton for a 5-0 lead.
“It’s always good when you get run support as a pitcher,” Hayes Holton said. “We get kind of dead in the middle innings when nothing’s going on at the plate. They scored the one, and we came back and got two. That kind of stuff fires us up.”
Hayes Holton struck out six batters through the first three innings when he labored through a 25-pitch fifth inning. He walked two batters on full-count offerings, and Manning’s double came on a 0-1 pitch.
“If you walk a guy, you’ve got to get the next guy out,” he said. “We made an error in the first, and I walked the next guy and knew I couldn’t do that. Thank God I came back and got the next guy. I didn’t really get hit hard. All of my stuff was working, having all of my stuff and throwing it when I wanted and where I wanted.”
Loranger, who had 14 hits a night after collecting 11, had five players with multiple hits, led by 3-for-4 efforts from Garofalo and Signorelli. Hyatt Holton doubled in two runs in the sixth to cap the team’s scoring.
“Me and my brother grew up working our tails off,” Hyatt said. “It was great getting to help him in his last home game here. He’s a leader. He’s going to put the team on his back. He’s going to lead by example. If we have guys goofing off, he’s going to get on top of that. He’s going to keep it how it needs to be.”
Holton had a full count on Yonker in the bottom of the seventh when he recorded his 11th and final strikeout on his home field.
“It’s awesome, it’s a good feeling,” he said. “We had a big turnout. This was a lot of people for us. It’s a fun feeling with that many people having to stand. You have your friends in the stands cheering you on. This is a really special team. If we play like we played tonight. I know we can play better. We’re tough to handle when we play like that.”
Line Score
Loranger 7, Archbishop Hannan 1
Loranger 400 012 0 – 7 14 1
Archbishop Hannan 000 010 0 – 1 1 5
W: Hayes Holton (3-2). L: Lincoln Foster. Leaders: LHS – Wyatt Garofalo 3-4, 2 runs, Hayes Holton 2-5, Myles Cunningham 2-4, 2 runs, Hyatt Holton 2-4, run, 2B, 4 RBIs, Kade Signorelli 3-4, RBI; HHS: Colt Manning 1-2, RBI. Records: Loranger 20-8, Archbishop Hannan 13-20.