Five Games In Five Days

On Tuesday, March 23, our JV baseball team played at home against the Johnson City Eagles. The Armadillos started the game quite well and was holding on to a three run lead late in the game. The Eagles rallied and scored enough to tie the game at 4 all. With time running out, San Saba was able to execute ABC baseball. Sean Argote led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double = A, JT Holland put a ball in play to advance Argote to third base = B, and Argote scored on a wild pitch by the pitcher = C, which ended the game. The final score was Johnson City 4, San Saba 5. The win made the JV team record 3 – 2 – 1 and the winning pitcher ended up being Michael Michael McKinnerney, making him

1 – 0 – 1.

Friday, March 24, the JV team traveled to Comanche and played after the varsity game. This time it was the Armadillos who had control of the game early on and was holding on to a two run lead late. Fielding errors led to Comanche scoring and taking a two run lead. Ryan Guidroz came in to pitch in relief, but the damage had already been done. The final score was Comanche 6, San Saba 4. The loss made the Armadillos 3 – 3 – 1 and 1 – 2 in district play. The pitching loss went to JT Mathis, making him 2-1 overall and 1-1 in district.

The next day offered new opportunities by heading down to Blanco for a JV-only tournament. We were able to get in 3 games in one day and have a lot of useful at-bats and game experience.

First we battled with Harper, who we already played once in our own tournament. Again, the outcome was successful. It was a closely played ball game with good plays and key moments. Harper led off the game by scoring four in the first inning. San Saba answered back with Ryan Guidroz working a lead-off walk, stole second base, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a ground ball by JT Mathis. In the second inning, the Armadillos started the rally with one out when Russell Lowe hit a triple to right-center field. BJ Harbour had a two strike single to score Lowe, JT Mathis and Wil Sloan both got hit by the pitch with two outs, and Tanner Hawkins scored a teammate with a ball put in play to second. San Saba took a 6 – 4 lead into the fifth inning. Harper had a double and a single to pull within one. With the tying run at second and two outs, Michael McKinnerney got the next batter to hit a fly ball to Josh Wright in right field who clinched the game with a catch. Michael McKinnerney’s great pitching helped the team get the win 5 – 6.

Our second opponent was the Comfort Bobcats. We allowed some first inning runs again and started the game behind. We rallied right away and only trailed by one run after one inning. JT Mathis and Josh Wright scored on a single by Michael McKinnerney, and McKinnerney and Sean Argote scored on a single by Russell Lowe. The team scored 12 runs before an out was recorded. Eventually 14 runs scored with the team batting around the order twice and not more than one run scored on any one hit or offensive play. The players truly advanced one base at a time. The pitching of Ryan Guidroz stopped the Bobcats offensively and San Saba won with a final score of 5 – 20.

Heading into our third game of the day with Blanco, our bats cooled off during our two hour break. Blanco, traditionally a very good hitting team started off the game by scoring three in the first inning again. Their pitcher was a tall, well built young man and pitched with a little above average JV velocity.

Michael McKinnerney had the team’s only hit and eight other Dillos struck out. Some mistakes were made, but we held our own. Blanco won the game with a score of 0 – 12. The pitcher of record was JT Mathis.

With two wins and one loss, this gave the San Saba Armadillos second place in the tournament. As a result, three players were named to an All-Tournament Team: Ryan Guidroz, Russell Lowe, and Michael McKinnerney. The season record for the JV team is 5 – 4 – 1 overall and 1 – 2 in district. Our next game will be at Dillo Diamond on Thursday, April 1, at 4:30 against the Dublin Lions. We look forward to seeing you there.