The Littlefield Wildcats’ varsity baseball team’s comeback efforts came up short Thursday evening, as they ended in a tie with Pecos, 11-11, in their tournament-opener at Wildcat Field.
Brendon Bowman got the lead-off man, Jeremiah Tarin to strike out swinging for out number one in the top of the first inning, but Damian Lujan hit a chopper to Ian Mendez at third base, whose throw was off the mark, giving Pecos a base runner. Alan Villesias came on as the courtesy runner for the catcher.
Villesias took second on a past ball, before Julian Adame hit a grounder to Jordan Trevino at shortstop, who checked the runner at second before getting the out at first, however, Villesias was able to take third on the play, giving Pecos a runner on third with two outs.
Ben Alonso hit an RBI-single up the middle to put the Eagles in front, 1-0, before Bowman got Chris Gomez to strikeout look-ing to retire the side.
Trevino drew a lead-off walk for the Wildcats and took second on a pitch in the dirt, before Ethan Garcia flew out to Isaac Ramirez in left field for out number one. Trevino took third on a past ball, before Major McNeese drove him in with an RBI-single up the middle to tie the game, 1-1. McNeese took second on a wild pitch, before Nick Caballero drew a walk to put runners on first and second for the Wildcats.
Jonavan Weaver hit into a fielder’s choice at shortstop, as Colt Salgado go the force out at second, leaving runners on the corners for Littlefield with two outs. Jaron Cabello would strike out looking to end the inning, leaving the score tied, 1-1, heading into inning number two.
Salgado singled through the left side to open the second inning for Pecos, but Bowman got Ben Montano to fly out to Garcia in center field for out number one. Jon Larez hit a shot to the right side deep in the hole at second base that was stopped by Isaiah Rodriguez, but he couldn’t make a play, leaving runners on first and second with one out for the Eagles. Ramirez reached base on a
Ramirez reached base on a catchers interference call to load the bases, and Tarin hit a sacrifice fly ball to Garcia in left-center field that scored the runner from third to put the Eagles back in front, 2-1. Bowman would get Lujan to fly out to Garcia in center field to retire the side.
Bowman hit a high chopper that got over the head of Elijah Contreras on the mound for an infield single, as Chip Green came on as the courtesy runner for the pitcher. Green took second on a bad pick-off move to second by Contreras, before Mendez drew a walk to put two runners on for the Wildcats.
The runners moved up 90-feet on a past ball to Rodriguez, be-fore he popped up to Larez at second base for the first out of the inning. Green scored on a past ball to tie the game, 2-2, before Trevino drew a walk to put runners on the corners for Littlefield.
Ramirez relieved Contreras on the mound for Pecos, as he gave up a walk to Garcia to load the bases for the Wildcats. McNeese hit a sacrifice grounder to Larez at second base, who got the out at first as Mendez scored to put Littlefield in front, 3-2. Caballero would strike out looking to end the inning for the Wildcats.
Bowman and the Wildcat defense kept the Eagles off the board in the top of the third inning and in the bottom half of the side, Weaver was hit by a pitch and Cabello drew a walk to put two runners on for Littlefield. Bowman singled on a throwing error by the shortstop, but a base running mistake, got
Cabello rung up at second base for the first out of the inning.
Green, the courtesy runner, took second on a pitch, before Mendez struck out swinging for out number two. Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Littlefield, as Ramirez was relieved on the mound by Alonso. Trevino hit a floater over third base that fell in for a two-RBI double to put the Wildcats up, 5-2. Garcia, though, would strike out swinging to end the rally. In the top of the fourth inning,
In the top of the fourth inning, Montano drew a lead-off walk to give the Eagles a base runner and he took second on a past ball, before Larez too was walked to give them two runners with no outs. The runners moved up 90-feet on a ball that got away from Armando Ramon and Ramirez hit a two-RBI double to left field to cut the lead to, 5-4. Tarin hit an RBI-single up the middle to tie the game, 5-5, as
Bowman was relieved on the mound by Ian Mendez.
Tarin took second on a pitch before Mendez got Lujan to fly out to McNeese in left field for out number one. Adame drew a walk and Alonso hit a two-RBI double to right-center field to put the Eagles in front, 7-5. Alonso took third on a past ball and Gomez hit a grounder to Trevino at shortstop, who went home with it, but the throw got past Ramon, as the run scored and Gomez took second on the play, as Pecos extended their lead to, 8-5.
Salgado singled to right field, moving Gomez over to third on the play, but Mendez got Montano to strike out looking for out number two and got Larez to line out to Garcia in center field to retire the side.
McNeese lined out to Larez at second base for out number one in the bottom half of the third inning, but Cabellero singled on an error by Larez at second base, as Sam Hill came on as the pinch runner. Weaver doubled over the right fielder, advanced Hill to third on the play and a balk scored Hill from third and moved Weaver over to third, cutting the lead to, 8-6.
Cabello drew a walk and Bowman hit a sacrifice fly to right field, that allowed Weaver to tag-up and score from third to cut the lead to, 8-7. Cabello took second on a pitch, before Mendez hit a ground-rule double to left field to tie the game, 8-8. Rodriguez, though, would strike out looking to end the inning.
Caballero relieved Mendez on the mound to begin the fifth inning and the Eagles pushed three runs across to take an, 11-8, lead into the bottom half of the side.
Tarin relieved Alonso on the mound in the bottom of the fifth, as Littlefield came to the plate for their last at-bats of the game.
Trevino and Garcia drew backto-back walks and McNeese hit a ball past first base that was stopped on a dive by Larez, but nobody was home at first, as the Wildcats loaded the bases with no outs. Caballero hit a sacrifice fly ball to center field that allowed Trevino to tag-up and score from third, as Garcia advanced on the play to put runners on the corners with the score cut to, 11-9.
Weaver hit a sacrifice fly to right field to allow Garcia to tag up and score to trim the lead to, 11-10. McNeese took second and third on back-to-back pitches to get into scoring position before Cabello drew a walk to put runners on the corners with two outs.
Salgado relieved Tarin on the mound for Pecos, and they intentionally walked Bowman to load the bases with two outs. Mendez drew an RBI-walk to tie the game, 11-11, but Rodriguez struck out swinging to end the game.
Bowman pitched three innings for the Wildcats, giving up five runs and three walks, while earning two strikeouts. Mendez pitched one inning, while giving up three runs and one walk; he also had one strikeout in the contest. Caballero also pitched one inning giving up three runs, while earning one punch out.