The Armadillo JV baseball team hosted a game against Comanche last Tuesday, April 5, and travelled to Early for a game last Friday. We were pleased with the player performances and the outcome of the two games which added valuable experience to the program overall.

In our game against Comanche, our offense got off to a great start. Kolton Ellis started with a single to the centerfielder, who let it go through their legs all the way to the fence. Kolton came all the way around to score. Wil Sloan got on by error, Russell Lowe worked a walk, and Kelan Verette had a two out single that knocked in Sloan and Lowe. Dallas Caldwell knocked in Verette with a single. TJ Hibler kept the inning alive with a single. Ethan Ingram got a RBI by hitting a single over the shortstop’s head. The second inning was more of the same. Overall, we scored 12 runs in the first two innings, making the score: Comanche-0, San Saba-12.

This padded the lead for our pitcher, Kelan Verette, who pitched four innings, did not allow a run, struck out 6, and was in line for the win. In the fifth inning, we brought our catcher, Jordan Watson, in to pitch to accomplish several things. First, it was giving Verette some rest and avoiding being overworked as a pitcher. Second, it was a chance for Watson to get in some work from the mound, which has been hard to find time to do this year. It also allowed Watson to get out from behind the plate, which can be grueling over the course of a season. At any rate, Watson also pitched well. He got comfortable with his mechanics. However, the Indians were stringing together a rally and hitting the ball into play a little more with Watson on the mound. Eventually, Watson and our defense settled down and ended the inning after Comanche had 6 runs cross the plate. That meant that we had to bat again because we did not have a ten run lead anymore.

The Dillos sent Wil Sloan to the plate, who got on with a hard hit. This brought up Russell Lowe. During his at bat, Sloan advanced to second base on a wild pitch, putting him in scoring position. After a couple of pitches, Lowe hit a ball into the outfield, which brought Sloan around to score ending the game by the ten run rule. The final score was: Comanche-6, San Saba-16.

This past Friday, April 8, the Dillos took on the Longhorns in Early. We had another good outing. Hitting the ball well was Jordan Watson, Josh Wright, Dylan Rosales, Kelan Verette, and TJ Hibler. This game was more about pitching and defense. After two innings we had the lead 2-1 with the help of pitcher Josh Wright, and good defensive plays by Dallas Caldwell, Kelan Verette, and Dylan Rosales. After three and a third solid innings, the Longhorns began to rally off of Wright and we brought Verette in to close it out with the score now being 4-3 still in our favor.

We recorded two more outs to end the fourth, but eventually Early would score one more in the fifth inning. This knotted the score at 4-4 and due to time constraints and the varsity game waiting to be played, this is how the game ended. That brings the JV record to 11-4-2 overall and 7-1-1 in district, with the one district loss to Bangs putting us in second place. Our next games will be at Bangs on Friday, April 15, at 4:30 and at Hamilton on Tuesday, April 19, at about 7:00 (after the varsity) due to dim lights. See ya there!