By Bobby Allen

SDN Sports Editor

All season long, Western Texas College head baseball coach Billy Hefflinger has maintained the same tone, convinced that the second-year program just needed a few tweaks and breaks to transform the team from an expansion also-ran into a consistent winner.

If Friday’s doubleheader is any indication, it looks like Hefflinger’s goals are coming to fruition.

The Westerners won their third consecutive game after sweeping a doubleheader from Trinidad JC Friday, the first time the team has won three straight since its inception.

“I want the guys to get excited and feel good about winning three in a row,” he said. “We got big hits and big pitching performances. It’s a learning process, and the won-loss record is not as important to me as the growth of the team.”

The Westerners (7-22) closed the show on an impressive note in the second game.

After a 13-8 shelling of Trinidad in the opener, the Westerners rolled out to a 4-0 lead that stuck through five innings.

Jay Tust stole home, and Derek David delivered an RBI single in the third inning to give WTC starter Troy Krugar the four-run lead.

Trinidad bounced back to tie it as Krugar gave up a three-run homer to the Trojan’s Kevin Frost, and the Trojans tied it on an error and a double off reliever Galdino Pena.

“In the sixth I challenged the guys, and they got fired up,” Hefflinger said. “We’ve had leads and lost them, and this was the most intense we’ve been this season. We wanted to put the ball in play and get an opportunity to win.”

Trinidad put runners on second and third with no out in the top of the seventh, but Hank Casey came in and struck out two of the three batters he faced to shut the door and pick up the win.

Casey also earned a save in the opener.

“Hank did a great job today. He showed he could have confidence to slam the door,” Hefflinger said.

Casey’s clutch effort breathed new life into WTC in the bottom half of the seventh.

Landon Thompson crushed a triple to lead off the inning, and Derek David ripped a single past a drawn-in infield in the next at-bat to give the Westerners the 5-4 victory.

Garrett Graham got the win the in the opener in relief of Cody Guzman, and the WTC offense came alive with six runs over the fourth and fifth innings.

“Guzman threw well, and Garrett came in and did a great job,” Hefflinger said, adding that the momentum in the doubleheader seemed to flow WTC’s way. “It was nice to get those breaks that we haven’t been getting.”

Thompson was 2-for-4 in the opener with a run scored, and shortstop Kyle Toney drove in a pair of runs with a suicide squeeze bunt.

Tust tripled and drove in a run, and T.J. Sagen added a pair of hits and drove in two.

The Westerners concluded the series against Trinidad Saturday with one nine-inning game.

The team will host Ranger at 1 p.m. Tuesday, before hosting a four-game series with conference foe El Paso Community College beginning Friday at noon.

“If we can get a win (Saturday), we can step up and go into the second half with confidence,” Hefflinger said. “We have to capitalize and keep going forward.”