ABILENE – The Legacy baseball team was in a deep hole not long ago when it was sitting at 2-7 in district play.

Circumstances have changed in short time as the Rebels are now heading to the third round of the playoffs.

Legacy completed a sweep of Fort Worth Paschal with a 3-0 shutout in Game 2 of a Class 6A area round playoff series, Friday at Abilene Christian’s Cutcher Scott Field.

Jaden Rogers and Cam McClinton combined on a two-hitter to help the Rebels (20-17-1) win for the ninth time in their last 11 games.

Legacy moves on to the regional quarterfinal round for the second time in three years and will face either Fort Worth Boswell or Midland High at a time, date, and location to be determined.

Pitching was the story for the Rebels in Game 2, as Rogers got the win after allowing two hits and three walks over five-plus innings. Rogers struck out six.

McClinton got the final six outs for his second save in the two-game series.

“We got a great outing from Jaden last week to help us to win that must-win game against El Paso Eastwood (in the bi-district round),” LHS head coach Eric Garcia said. “You always kind of question yourself, should you save him for Game 3 after we won Game 1. We said no, let’s close this out. We thought he was our best option to close it out in two games today. And then Cam has just become a weapon out of the bullpen. The minute we get a lead or we’re late in game, he’s the one we’re going to go to finish the game. You saw last night and today, he’s been outstanding.”

McClinton entered the game with runners on first and second and no out in the bottom of the sixth.

McClinton threw a heavy dose of sliders to strike out the side and put out the fire.

“I was ready out of the bullpen for three or four innings,” McClinton said. “But I came in ready. I had a lot of adrenaline.”

McClinton retired all six batters he faced, finishing with two strikeouts.

“That’s my pitch, the slider,” McClinton said. “I feel like nobody can touch it, so I throw it pretty consistently.”

Charles Witherington, Paschal’s final batter, tried to pull his bat out of the way but it nudged the baseball, which rolled in front of the plate. LHS catcher Drew Martin alertly picked it up and tagged out Witherington for the final out.

The Rebels scored all three runs in the third.

Trajan Chavez led off the frame with a solo home run to right field.

Duncan Hayes plated courtesy runner Jace Cohlmia with a double down the left-field line.

Aiden Serrano followed with an RBI single to score Hayes.

“Everything,” Garcia said of what’s different about the Rebels in May. “They’re super locked in. The energy level is just unbelievable. They’re very relaxed right now. Everything we do is super relaxed. What the big thing is, they’re trusting each other and they’re trusting their coaches. We’re doing a lot of good things right now offensively and defensively and on the mound. That’s what it takes sometimes. You get a little confidence, and you start believing in each other, anything can happen.”

Martin was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch; Rey Rey Ruiz went 1-for-2 with a stolen base and a walk; Cohlmia had a stolen base, and Hayes was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Ruben Ayala and Witherington had Paschal’s only hits.

The Panthers ended the season at 13-21-2.

LEGACY 3, FORT WORTH PASCHAL 0

Legacy  003        000        0            --            3            6            0

Paschal 000        000        0            --            0            2            2

Jaden Rogers, Cam McClinton (6) and Drew Martin. Johnny Garcia, Jackson Dyer (6) and Fernando Acosta. W – Rogers. L – Garcia. Sv – McClinton. 2B – LHS: Duncan Hayes. HR – LHS: Trajan Chavez.