The San Saba Armadillo baseball team travelled up to Hamilton last Monday, April 18. After a scoreless first inning for both teams, the game proved to be good in favor of the Dillos as the team gradually produced offense, pitched well, and played solid defense to take care of business in a normal manner.

San Saba scored four runs in the second, two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth, two in the sixth, and two more in the seventh for a total of eleven runs for the game. Some offensive standouts were: Luke Cox who went 3 for 5, scored twice, and had 2 RBI’s, Kobe Cisneroz who went 3 for 4, scored once, had a double and a RBI, Zack Davis who went 2 for 5, scored twice, and had a RBI with a home run, and Cody Herd who went 2 for 4, scored once, and had a home run and 3 RBI’s.

Ryan Pannell was in charge on the mound the entire game. He pitched all seven innings and only allowed two runs. One of those runs was earned. He also allowed only 3 hits while he racked up 7 walks and cancelled them out with 10 strikeouts. Fielding plays by Cody Herd, Clayton Perry, JT Mathis, Luke Cox, Miguel Flores, and Kobe Cisneroz continued to stall the Bulldog rallies.

The pitcher’s best friend (the double play) showed up two times during the course of the game. In the third inning, it was a 6-4-3 double play (Perry to Mathis to Herd) that got our first two outs after a run had already been tallied earlier in the inning. And in the fourth inning the same batter hit into a more rare 1-2-3 double play (Pannell to Cox to Herd) to end the inning also after a run had scored previously. No other scoring threats were made towards the Dillos in any other inning the rest of the day. San Saba won the game with the final score being: San Saba-11, Hamilton-2.

This past Friday, April 22, the Armadillos hosted the Coleman Bluecats. The game got off to a good start for Coleman, and was nip and tuck for a while. Eventually, San Saba had good hits and good plays on defense to pull away.

Cody Herd started on the mound for the Armadillos. The leadoff batter got on with a single and two batters later; their big first baseman singled him in to give Coleman an early lead. In the bottom of the first, our leadoff batter, Zack Davis, got on with a double, then a ground out was made. Our third batter, Ryan Pannell, took a pitch to right field that just kept going…over the fence. The two run homer put the Dillos back in the lead. Tanner Weyerts had a two out single, but the inning ended with no other scoring action.

Herd breezed through the second inning and went three up and three down with three ground ball outs to different players. Unfortunately, our half of the second was also three up and three down.

Both teams did some scoring in the third inning. Coleman started with a fly ball that was caught by our centerfielder, Miguel Flores. Then a single to center and a ground ball back to the pitcher, Herd, who threw to Ryan Pannell at first made two outs. But a single scored the runner on base and the next batter their first baseman, hit a two run home run. A hit batter, an error, and a single got another runner in before we switched pitchers and brought in Ryan Guidroz. He struck out the next batter to end the inning, with the score now: Coleman-5, San Saba-2. In the bottom half, we started to rally as well. Ryan Pannell drew a walk, a pitch hit Cody Herd, Tucker Cromer hit a double to left center and knocked in two RBI’s, and a fly out made two outs. Miguel Flores doubled in Cromer; Kobe Cisneroz got on by error and knocked in Flores before a fly ball ended the inning.

Guidroz continued to pitch in the fourth and allowed a walk, but then he struck out two and got a ground ball out to prevent any further damage. The Dillos continued the hit parade in the fourth when Davis singled, Cox doubled, and Pannell doubled in Davis and Cox off of a new pitcher. After a strike out, Cromer got on by error, advanced to third on throwing errors and scored on a wild pitch, and a fly ball double play ended the inning.

The top of the fifth still saw Guidroz on the mound who worked a ground ball out fielded by Clayton Perry at shortstop. A fly ball error allowed a runner on, the next batter struck out, then a walk and a ground ball to Pannell at first ended the Bluecat rally. The Dillos got two runners on by error and Luke Cox doubled them in and scored on a fielder’s choice to add three more runs to the San Saba total in the fifth.

We sent Zack Davis to the mound in the sixth who walked the first batter he faced. He then struck out the next batter and got a ground ball out fielded by Josh Wright at second base to make two outs, even though a run scored in the process. An error and two walks loaded the bases and began to raise the tension, but a ground ball back to Davis at the mound with a throw to Pannell at first ended the inning. Again, the Armadillos looked to increase their lead. Tucker Cromer singled, and Tanner Weyerts doubled in Cromer. After a fly ball out, Tanner Hawkins singled in Tanner Weyerts and a pop fly double play ended the inning for the second time.

We sent Clayton Perry to the mound to get in some work and to protect the lead. He faced five batters and allowed two walks, but got two force outs at second and a pop up to first ended the ballgame. This was a great team win where everyone participated and played a specific role that made contributions to the team. This is exactly what we need now that we are guaranteed a run in the playoffs.

These two wins push the San Saba baseball record to 10-3 in district, and 14-7-1 for the season. We have clinched a playoff spot and need to win our final district game to make sure we remain second place in our district so we can play third place out of District 5. Our next game will be at home this Friday, against Hico at 5:00 with the varsity team only. Thanks to everyone for everything that has been done this year. We look forward to seeing you all as we enter the State 2A Playoffs. GO DILLOS!!