By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
An exciting night of Little League action saw late inning rallies, a tremendous turnout of support for teams and a visit from the Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office when things got a little too heated.
Tuesday night, Del Rio Little League’s 10-12 baseball team defeated Kinney County, 6-3, to advance to the championship game of the District 35 Little League 10-12 Baseball Tournament where they’ll face Eagle Pass in a rematch. That game will be played tonight at 7 p.m. at Field 1 of the Val Verde County Sports Complex.
Eagle Pass defeated Del Rio, 3-2, in the first meeting between the two teams Sunday. Del Rio has to beat Eagle Pass twice in back-to-back days to claim the district title. Eagle Pass just needs to beat Del Rio once to win the championship.
In softball Tuesday, Del Rio’s rally came up short as they fell to Eagle Pass, 12-11, in the championship game of the District 35 Little League 10-12 Softball Tournament. The same two teams will meet again Thursday at 9 p.m. at the complex’s Field 3 in a winner-take-all scenario for the district crown.
Also in softball, Eagle Pass defeated Kinney County, 22-13, to advance to the championship game of the District 35 Little League 8-10 Softball Tournament. They will next face unbeaten Del Rio Thursday at 7 p.m. at the complex’s Field 3.
Two games will be played at the complex tonight, both starting at 7 p.m.
On Field 1, Del Rio and Eagle Pass will meet for the District 35 Little League 10-12 Baseball championship. On Field 3, Del Rio and Eagle Pass will play for the District 35 Little League Junior League Softball championship. Del Rio needs to win tonight and then again on Friday to claim the district title. Eagle Pass just needs one win to take home the championship.
8-10 SOFTBALL
Eagle Pass got all they could handle from Kinney County in a game that took two-and-a-half hours to complete.
After Kinney County took the lead in the first inning on a bases loaded walk by Gnezlynn Martinez to score Leah Castillo, Eagle Pass scored five runs in the bottom of the inning to take a commanding 5-1 lead.
Kinney County would tie the game in the second with four runs including an RBI fielder’s choice by Khloe Talamantes. Mia Talamantes, Castillo, Bridgett Buitron and Natalie Cardenas scored for Kinney County.
Eagle Pass reclaimed the lead on an RBI single by Kylie Barcena in the second, but Kinney County took back the lead in the third with two more runs. Alianna Valdez and Buitron scored while Mia Talamantes had an RBI groundout.
After Eagle Pass made it 8-7 in the bottom of the third thanks to runs from Renata Mascorro and Sienna Duran, a wild fourth inning tested the resolve of both teams.
Kinney County sent 12 batters to the plate in the fourth and scored six runs to pull ahead, 13-8. Mia Talamantes, Victoria Villarreal, Brezeis Castillo, Khloe Talamantes, Buitron and Isabel Gonzalez scored for Kinney County with Mia Talamantes and Khloe Talamantes picking up RBIs along the way.
But Eagle Pass would provide the answer, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the fourth to wrest the lead back, 16-13.
Despite getting runners on base in the fifth and sixth innings, Kinney County would not score again. Meanwhile, Eagle Pass tacked on six more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to ice the contest.
10-12 BASEBALL
Down 3-0, Del Rio rallied to stop Kinney County, 6-3, in a game that saw Kinney County’s manager get ejected for arguing and at least one Kinney County fan try and start a fight with the tournament director.
Kinney County took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a solo home run by Malachi Cervantes. The lead grew to 3-0 in the second inning as Brodie Fowler and Fabian Lopez each scored.
But that would be the end of Kinney County’s offense for the night. After those two runs, Del Rio’s Jaren Valadez and Colton Woody would retire 14 of the next 19 Kinney County batters including 10 via strikeout.
Del Rio’s bats would come alive in the bottom of the third.
Josiah Martinez walked and later scored to cut the lead to 3-1. Then in the fourth inning, Valadez, Mario Cervantes and Mark Salas loaded the bases on a double and back-to-back walks. After a strikeout, Martinez came up big again with a base hit down the right field line that cleared the bases and put Del Rio ahead, 4-3.
Del Rio capped its scoring in the bottom of the fifth as E.J. Galliete and Brandon Dominguez each reached base and scored to help make the final 6-3.
10-12 SOFTBALL
The first time Del Rio and Eagle Pass met in the District 35 Little League 10-12 Softball Tournament, Del Rio ran away with the game via a 21-8 result.
The rematch played out a little differently.
Tied 1-1, Eagle Pass scored 11 runs in the top of the fourth inning to put Del Rio at the brink of a loss via the run rule. Instead, Del Rio scored nine runs in the bottom of the fourth to climb right back into the game before falling short in the fifth for a 12-11 loss.
The game was scoreless until Janiah Ross walked an eventually came around to score to put Del Rio ahead, 1-0. Eagle Pass would tie the game in the top of the third.
Then came the fourth inning.
Eagle Pass sent 17 batters to the plate in the fourth, scoring 11 runs to turn what was a nail-biter into what looked like a blowout. Eagle Pass took advantage of six walks, three hits, three hit batters and a handful of Del Rio errors to put Del Rio down by 12 headed into the home half of the inning.
Del Rio then got on a roll of its own as six of the team’s first seven batters reached base and scored. Gabriela Diaz, Ross, Alyssa Garcia, Harlow Riemann, Brianna Perez and Amanda Muñiz helped kickstart the rally that was boosted by a bases loaded triple by Perez.
By the time Alina Mojica scored and Diaz and Ross crossed the plate for the second time in the inning, Del Rio found itself down by just two runs, 12-10.
The lead was trimmed further after Isabella Martinez walked and late scored to make it 12-11, but Eagle Pass was able to retire the final batter on strikes to preserve the win and set up a winner-take-all rematch.
Much like the Kinney County/Del Rio baseball game earlier, this game was contentious as well. Eagle Pass’ manager was ejected from the game and Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived on scene later to help keep the peace though there were no confrontations between fans and law enforcement officials.
—
Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
