By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Del Rio’s final baseball game of the season had everything Rams fans could have wanted except a victory.
Longtime rivals Del Rio and Eagle Pass went toe-to-toe for nine innings until the Eagles scored in the top of the 10th and held on for a 4-3 win, bringing an end to the Rams’ season.
It didn’t take the Rams long to put runs on the scoreboard, scoring twice in the second to grab an early 2-0 lead.
Jon Barragan walked and Tommy Gambrel followed with a single to right field. Mario Soto then smacked a singled to right to bring in Barragan and give Del Rio a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Alex Rodriguez kept the run of hits to right field going as he ripped a double to right field to bring in Gambrel and make it 2-0 in favor of Del Rio.
The Rams would make it a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning after Matt Mendez reached on an error, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Barragan.
Will Cooper, Del Rio’s starting pitcher, had been rolling through the first five innings. He allowed just one hit over that span, hit one batter and walked another.
But then came the sixth inning.
Cooper walked Isaac Stanwick to start the inning. He then retired the next two batters before getting a ground ball out of Robert De La Garza. Gambrel was able to field the ball, but his throw to first was wild. Stanwick scored and De La Garza moved to second.
Next up was Eagle Pass’ cleanup hitter Derek Ruiz. The Rams called a timeout to discuss how to approach Ruiz with two outs and first base open. The decision was made to allow Cooper to pitch to Ruiz, but the big hitting left hander turned on a 2-1 pitch and drove it over the right field wall to tie the game at 3-3.
Cooper would pitch through the seventh inning and finished with just two hits allowed before giving way to Rodriguez in the top of the eighth.
In the bottom of the seventh the Rams managed to put a pair of runners on base as Barragan was intentionally walked and Gambrel followed with a single to center field. Eagle Pass settled down to get the final out and send the game to extra innings.
The Eagles threatened in the top of the eight as leadoff hitter Aidan Lopez doubled to left and eventually made it to third base, but Rodriguez was able to get a groundout to end the at-bat.
Del Rio tried to answer in the bottom of the eighth as Willson Smith drew a one-out walk and then stole second base. Eagle Pass brought in De La Garza to pitch and he sat down the next two batters to keep the game going.
Smith also did work with his glove, robbing Jaredo Romero of a hit in the top of the ninth inning with a diving catch in center field.
But the Eagles finally broke through in the top of the 10th. Lopez walked and moved to second on a passed ball. Mathew Elizondo singled, and De La Garza worked a walk to load the bases. Rodriguez struck out Ruiz to fire up the Rams fans and his teammates. He then got Joaquin Olivas to hit a ground ball to Gambrel. Gambrel was able to get the force out at second, but Lopez scored to put the Eagles up 4-3.
De La Garza was too much for the Rams, though. He faced eight Del Rio batters in 2 2/3 innings and retired all eight including five via strike out to get the win.
Tuesday’s game was the final high school game for Del Rio seniors Rodriguez, Ricky Limon, Mendez, Cooper, Barragan, Smith, Daniel Crispin, Cade George, Luis Monarrez, Conner Parker and J.R. Meza.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
