By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
The TJ Moore Padres entered Saturday evening’s Del Rio Little League Majors Division Championship Game unbeaten.
They exited the same way.
The Padres scored at least three runs in their four at-bats as they held off the Howmet Aerospace Rangers, 14-8, to claim the league championship at the Val Verde County Sports Complex.
The Rangers opened the game’s scoring with three runs in the first inning. Colton Woody, Mario Cervantes and Jaren Valadez each reached base and scored to stake their team to the early lead.
The Padres answered in the bottom of half of the first as they scored four runs to take a one-run lead. Marky Salas, Brandon Dominguez, Alek Casillas and Ashton Casillas reached base and scored with Alek providing an RBI in the process.
The Rangers reclaimed the lead in the top of the second. Emerick Sepulveda was hit by a pitch and came home to score on an inside the park home run by Woody. Jabier Verastegui and Valadez would add runs of their own to help the Rangers reclaim the lead, 7-4.
The Padres cut the deficit to one run in the second inning. Jonathan Molina reached on a fielder’s choice, and Dominguez followed with a single before the two runners came home on a single by Alek Casillas and an error off the bat of Ashton Casillas.
After the Rangers were held scoreless in the top of the third, the Padres took back the lead for good in the bottom of the inning.
Salas reached on an error, Molina singled and Dominguez smacked a ground rule double to help kickstart the scoring. All three players would eventually cross home plate to put the Padres back on top, 9-7.
Despite loading the bases with two outs in the fourth, the Rangers were unable to cut in the Padres’ lead as Dominguez, who took over pitching duties as the inning began, struck out the final out to keep the Padres up by two.
The Padres opened the bottom of the fourth inning by loading the bases on an Ashton Casillas single, a Benjamin Valdez walk and a Ryan Herrera walk. Salas then cleared the bases with a double to right center field to give the Padres a 12-7 lead. Salas would later score on an error off the bat of Molina, who would later score on a passed ball to push the lead to 14-7.
The Rangers added one more in the top of the fifth after Woody doubled to left field and came home on a single to center from Cervantes. Dominguez regrouped to retire three of the next four batters he faced to seal the win as the game was called due to time limit.
The Padres’ roster included Salas, Molina, Dominguez, Isaiah Harrington, Alek Casillas, Ashton Casillas, Yadi Ozuna, Valdez, Anthony Arizpe, Donny Guajardo, Rolando Herrera and Ryan Herrera. Bobby Dominguez, Darin Casillas and Jonathan Molina were the team’s coaches.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
