By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Down five runs after two innings, it looked like it would be a long night for the Rams baseball team Friday night.
However, Del Rio battled back to cut its deficit to one before coming up just short against Laredo United, 7-6. The loss drops the Rams to 2-4 in district with four games left to play.
United wasted little time putting runs on the board. The Longhorns scored three runs in the first inning thanks to a wild pitch and RBIs from Orly Martinez and Mito Chaires.
Del Rio countered with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Ethan Matherne walked and later scored when United’s catcher dropped the ball at home plate trying to tag Matherne. Harrison Taylor doubled and scored when Tyler George was caught in a rundown between first and second base.
The Longhorns struck for four more runs in the second inning punctuated by a two-run double off the bat of Ryan Gonzalez and an RBI single by Chaires.
Del Rio starting pitcher Wade Cooper took the brunt of United’s onslaught. He gave up seven runs on five hits and was lifted for Tommy Gambrel with two outs in the second.
Gambrel neutralized United’s bats for the rest of the game. He allowed just three hits and walked two batters over the remaining five innings. Most importantly, he did not allow a run to the Longhorns for the remainder of the game.
Gambrel did get help from his defense. Catcher Joe Guerrero threw out a United runner trying to steal second in the top of the sixth. Then Memo Dominguez followed with a single before trying to stretch it into a double. Albert Vargas was having none of that as he threw a laser to Ricky Martinez covering second base and threw out Dominguez.
Del Rio slowly climbed into the game in the third inning. George was hit by a pitch. He was followed on base by Mario Soto and Guerrero who each drew walks. When United’s Jerry Medina uncorked a wild pitch, George raced home to make it a 7-3 game.
The Rams cut the United lead to one in the bottom of the fifth.
George drew a walk to leadoff the inning. Soto followed with a walk of his own. After a sacrifice bunt from Guerrero moved each baserunner into scoring position, Juan Manuel Garza hit a ground ball to United’s shortstop who couldn’t make a clean play on the ball, allowing George to score and Garza to reach first base.
After Adan Villarreal entered as a pinch runner for Garza, United pitcher Carlos Garcia threw a ball that catcher Chaires couldn’t stop. Soto came in to score to make the score 7-5. When he tried to throw the ball back to Garcia, the throw was wild and Villarreal moved to third. Ricky Martinez then brought Villarreal home on an infield single when no Longhorns player was covering first base.
Del Rio had a chance to tie the game in the sixth. Soto, Guerrero and Garza all drew two-out walks to load the bases, but Albert Vargas’ fly ball to centerfield was caught to end the inning and the threat.
The Rams were able to get one more baserunner in the bottom of the seventh after Taylor drew a two-out walk, but Aiden Natividad flew out to first base to end the game.
Taylor, Garza, Vargas and Martinez had the Rams’ only hits. Matherne reached base three times on two walks and one hit batter. George also reached base three times with a pair of walks and a hit batter.
The Rams will be off the week of April 4 due to STAAR testing. They’ll return to action Tuesday, April 11, when they face the Laredo Alexander Bulldogs at 7 p.m. at The Bank & Trust Ram Field.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
