By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
McAllister Park was on a mission.
The 9-11-year-old all-star squad hailing from San Antonio went undefeated in its three games this past weekend, culminating in a 9-0 win over Western Little League out of San Angelo to clinch the Texas West – Section 3 Little League 9-11 Baseball Tournament at the Val Verde County Sports Complex and advance to Abilene for the Texas West State Tournament.
After beating Del Rio in its first game, McAllister Park took on Western in what was a tough back and forth matchup.
McAllister Park was down 4-0 after the first inning. Rewk Nagel walked and was followed by three straight hits from Cooper Stevens, Bryson Bizot and Jace Perez. Jeff Perez completed Western’s hit parade and brought home Jace to finish off the four-run inning.
McAllister Park scored three runs in the top of the second thanks to a Luke Norona double and walks by Jackson McMillan and Elias Cappuccio. All three of them would score in the inning to cut the Western lead to one.
They would tie the game in the top of the third after Nico Aguilar singled and later scored.
Western regained the lead in the bottom of the third, scoring a pair of runs on a Ross Jimenez single and a two-run home run by Julian Campos to make the score 6-4.
The game was contentious as both teams were warned after coaches hollered at each other from across the field. Once order was restored, McAllister Park turned out to have the final say.
Down by two in the top of the sixth inning, McAllister Park scored six runs to grab a 10-6 lead. Ryan Moeller started the rally off with a one-out solo home run. After picking up its second out, McAllister Park saw its next five batters reach base and score to grab the lead for good. Parker Mccooey, Iyden Gonzalez, Colton Esquivel, Aguilar and Easton Hernandez all scored in the sixth inning outburst.
Esquivel also shut the door on Western, retiring the last three batters he faced in order and preserving the win to send McAllister Park to the championship game.
All that was left was to find out which team they’d face.
Uvalde, which lost to Western in the opening game for both teams, bounced back to defeat Del Rio, 10-6, to advance to the elimination bracket finals.
Del Rio took a 1-0 lead in the first inning after Nahil Santana walked and later scored on a passed ball.
Uvalde scored three runs in the bottom of the first to take a 3-1 lead. Izel Hernandez singled and later scored on a wild pitch. Darian Aviles was hit by a pitch and eventually came around to score. Mason Gonzalez capped the scoring with a single before he, too, would later score to make it 3-1.
The Uvalde lead grew to 7-1 in the bottom of the second. Josh Perez singled, Hernandez walked and Aviles singled to load the bases for Evan Perez. Perez cleared the bases with one swing, bringing in three runs to put Uvalde up 6-1. He would eventually score to make it 7-1.
Del Rio battled back to cut the lead to 7-3 in the fourth. Clark Farrar singled and came home on a Santana double. Santana would score on a single by Kase Gee to trim the Uvalde lead to four.
Uvalde didn’t wait long to respond, scoring two more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Evan Perez singled and scored on a triple by Bizot, who later scored to push the lead to 9-3.
Del Rio tacked two more runs to its total in the fifth. Kayden Caban singled and Julian Hernandez walked to put two runners on with one out. Yadier Ozuna then doubled to bring in Caban. Hernandez would follow soon after to make it a 9-5 game.
Uvalde capped its scoring in the fifth inning. Josh Perez singled and later scored on a Hernandez single.
Del Rio’s final run came in the top of the sixth. Santana walked and scored on an Akxel Rodriguez single to make it 10-6. That was as close as Del Rio would get, though, as they’d leave the bases loaded to end the game and were eliminated from tournament play.
The Del Rio Little League 9-11 all-stars included Aaden Abrahams, Kayden Caban, Ashton Casillas, Clark Farrar, Nathan Flores, Andres Fraga, Kase Gee, Julian Hernandez, Ty Hinojosa, Yadier Ozuna, Akxel Rodriguez, Nahil Santana and Jabier Verastegui.
In the elimination final, Western eliminated Uvalde via the run rule, 15-0, in four innings. Andrew Young led the way with a pair of home runs including a game-ending solo blast to lead off the bottom of the third. He finished the game 3-for-3 with four RBIs.
The win by Western set up a rematch against McAllister Park in the tournament’s championship game.
The outcome was more one-sided this time as McAllister Park shutout Western, 9-0.
McAllister Park scored twice in the first inning, three times in the second, three times in the fourth and once more in the fifth.
Esquivel tossed a complete game shutout for McAllister Park. He scattered seven hits and walked one batter while striking out eight. He also scored a pair of runs and drove in a pair of runs at the plate.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
