Posted: Fri, 29 May 2009 10:06 AM - 7,798 Readers
By: Danny Davis
Underneath the brim of his baseball cap, Andy Holt has written words of encouragement.
The message isn't repeatable in print, but they serve as a calming reminder for Holt to just keep things simple, the philosophy that the starting shortstop for Lake Travis High School should view the game as he did when he was 12.
Those words have come in handy for Holt, who has had a busy senior year.
In the past few months, Holt has signed a college scholarship to play baseball, switched positions and emerged as the Cavaliers' steadiest offensive threat.
Lake Travis (30-3) — ranked No. 3 in Class 4A — begins its best-of-three regional semifinals series with No. 2 Corpus Christi Calallen tonight. It's a rematch of last year's regional semifinals sweep by Calallen, which went on to win the state championship.
"It's awesome," Holt said. "It's what we've been working for all season. It's been a dream that we've had."
Holt, who leads Lake Travis with a .438 average, also leads the Cavaliers in runs scored (32) and steals (14).
Things have been a little rougher for Holt on defense. After playing four positions in his first two varsity seasons and spending most of last year as the starting second baseman, he has spent 2009 at shortstop. His 14 errors are a team high, but he said most of those errors were more mental than physical.
"I'm a lot more comfortable than I was," Holt said. "I just want to be in the batting order, no matter where I'm playing."
Holt has "great range as a shortstop," Lake Travis coach Roy Kinnan said. "As a coach, you like to see someone who will get the ball — and he will get the ball. Crucial times and crucial plays, he isn't going to make errors."
Lake Travis has pieced together an impressive playoff run, allowing only three runs and posting one shutout in its four postseason games. As a team, the Cavaliers are batting .358 and pitchers have posted an ERA of 1.70.
The team also has a championship swagger that has carried over from football. Three seniors on the team also were part of Lake Travis' Class 4A Division I football state title. And Cohl Walla, an outfielder who didn't play football last fall, was a starting wide receiver on Lake Travis' first state football championship season in 2007.
"I remember with football, they had so much confidence going into the playoffs," Holt said. "I think with the baseball team, it helps that some of the guys got to do that."
Holt, a starting safety last fall, had sat out the 2007 football season in order to focus on baseball. After he committed last fall to play baseball for the Naval Academy, he decided he wanted to play football again. But by that time, Lake Travis already was 2-0, ranked No. 1 in the state and had beaten rival Westlake.
After a team vote, Holt was allowed to rejoin the football team. He started on the scout team, but eventually moved onto the special-teams unit and was starting again during District 25-4A play.
About three months later, he helped lead Lake Travis to another state championship.
"It was one of the best moments of my life, sports-wise," he said.
Holt will try to top his football memory with a trip to Dell Diamond in two weeks for the state baseball tournament.
But first the Cavaliers have to get by Calallen (32-2), a playoff rematch that was in doubt until Wednesday, when the UIL ruled that Calallen hasn't been using an ineligible player and wouldn't have to forfeit its playoff victories.
Lake Travis was the only team in last year's playoffs not to lose by at least five runs to Calallen, which beat the Cavaliers 3-0 and 5-4. Holt, for one, was happy with the UIL's decision.
"I wouldn't want to play anyone else," Holt said.
