A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
The Eagle Pass Eagles overcame an early 2-0 deficit to pick up a victory against the CC Winn Mavericks on Friday night.
Devon Torres was on the hill for the Eagles in this, the sixteenth meeting between the two schools. Jesus Fraga was on the mound for the Mavs.
In the first inning, the Mavericks got two on a fly ball by Ricardo Gonzalez to Dylan Elguezabal with men on second and third. Runner Isaac Banda was tagging all the way scoring the first run and Jonathan Villarreal displayed some opportune running skills and came all the way home on an errant throw. 2-0 Winn with Eagle Pass coming to bat.
Fraga faced the top of the Eagle order in the first and came out unscathed as he got Torres to ground out and Diego Gaona flied out to center.
The Eagles scored in the bottom of the third when Gaona drew a walk and his runner Erik Martinez scored on a fly ball to right by Juan Lopez which Banda tried to run down, but the ball stayed fair down the right field line.
Jesus Medellin hit a Torres pitch up the middle on a 2-1 count, but on an ensuing pitch, Gaona blocked a ball in the dirt to his left and Medellin took off to second. A perfect throw to second got the streaking runner and the threat was over for the Mavericks in the 4th.
Eric Gonzalez had an RBI base hit in the bottom of the fourth scoring two more for the Eagles to put Eagle Pass ahead 4-2.
In the top of the fifth, steady Maverick stalwart Leo Lopez got on with a base hit, then Banda walked but Torres got out of the jam and the Mavs left two stranded.
Mando Lopez walked in the bottom of the fifth, stole second and moved to third on a grounder to second by RJ Ruiz. With two outs, Javy Cardona squeezed in Lopez and reached first safely to widen the lead to 5-2.
In the top of the sixth, the Mavericks had a base hit by Medellin and a walk put runners on first and second with two outs, but pinch hitter Javy Morales hit into what would've been a double play to end yet another Mav scoring threat.
Ricardo Gonzalez came in for Fraga in the bottom of the sixth and the biggest defensive play of the game occurred in this frame as A picture perfect relay throw from the outfield to Lopez at short to Luis Ramirez at home kept the Eagles from widening their lead and Gonzalez did the rest striking out the last Eagle hitter with bases loaded.
Gilbert Villalobos came in in relief in the top of the seventh with a crisp fastball, but there was someone on the field for CC Winn who was not going down without a fight and that was Leo Lopez who base hit, but was thrown out on a grounder by Banda who beat out the throw to first to avert the double play. Villareal struck out on a foul tip which fell into the glove of Gaona for out number two, then Villalobos sealed the deal by getting Ramirez and the Eagles took the game 5-2.
The Eagles will face Edinburgh North in the first round of the state playoffs next week.