Southland senior Chris Webber may be nearing the end of his baseball career, but he’s not going down quietly. Webber pitched another gem as the Rebels beat GMLOK 4-1 to close out their regular season in Seltz Field in Austin Thursday.

Webber struck out 12 in the win as he limited the Bulldogs (6-13 overall, 5-12 Three Rivers) to just four hits. GMLOK took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Nolan Skifter in the top of the second inning, but Webber retired the last 15 hitters in order to keep them from making any more noise.

“I was a little bit cold to start it out today, then I got going and I was good,” Webber said. “I switch up the pitches a lot and my catcher does a good job of locating pitches. When they got that first run, I felt a little bit of pressure, but when we started hitting I didn’t feel as much pressure.”

Webber, who is 8-3 overall on the season, has been highly consistent in his last seven appearances for Southland. In those contests Webber is 5-0, and he has pitched 26 and two-thirds innings while striking out 44 and allowing just two earned runs.

The Rebels will likely be looking to use Webber on the mound when the Section 1A West Division tournament begins May 25.

“He’s definitely been our ace all year,” Southland head coach Scott Retterath said. “Early on he was struggling, but if we can score a few runs he’s tough to beat. If he can keep the ball down and if he gets his knuckle ball down, he’s hard to hit.”

Southland catcher Jared Landherr said that Webber has given the Rebels (10-8 overall, 10-8 Three Rivers) a boost every time he’s been on the hill this spring.

“Chris has been really good and he’s been mowing people down all year,” Landherr said. “He’s got really good control and wherever I put the glove, he’s going to put it there.”

Southland took a 2-1 lead against the Bulldogs when it scored two runs off throwing errors in the bottom of the second inning. Landherr helped extend that lead when he knocked in a run with a single in the fourth and he had another RBI single in the sixth.

“We just had to relax a little more,” Landherr said. “We were a little excited and were getting a little ahead of the pitch, which led to ground balls. We had to be patient.”

Southland is currently on a four-game winning streak as it turns its focus towards the postseason. Retterath likes the pitching depth his team has and he thinks the team could put together a postseason run if things go right.

“We’re not scoring a lot of runs, but we’re not giving up a lot either,” Retterath said. “If we can get timely hits and keep the errors down, I like our chances to move on. We’ve got some pretty good momentum going into the playoffs.”

GMLOK 0 1 0  0 0 0  0  —  1  4  4

Southland 0 2 0  1 0 1  X  —  4  7  1

Southland pitching: Chris Webber (W) 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 12 K

Southland hitting: Jared Landherr, 2-for-4, 2 RBIs, 3 SB; Lee Wilson, 1-for-4, SB; Webber, 1-for-2, BB; Bret Matthews, 0-for-3; Carl Mueller, 0-for-3; Parker Brigham, 1-for-3, R, SB; Alex Kiefer, 0-for-3; Isaac Eissinger, 1-for-3, R; Colton Mandt, 1-for-3, 2 R, SB

GMLOK pitching: Ethan Fenske (L) 6 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 K

GMLOK hitting: Cody Merkel, 1-for-3; Brenn Olson, 0-for-2, BB; Drew Copley, 1-for-3; Zach Myhre, 1-for-3, double; Zach Bubany, 0-for-3; Fenske, 0-for-3; Grant Skifter, 0-for-3; Reid Kruegel, 1-for-3; Nolan Skifter, 1-for-2, RBI