For the second straight game, what started out as a close and competitive game got out of hand last week in Atascosa County. After going into the 5th inning tied 4-4, Big Red was able to run past Natalia producing five big runs in the 4th fueling them to an 18-8 victory over the Mustangs. Jourdanton out-hit Natalia 13-5 and forced the Stangs to work five different pitchers on the mound during their 6-inning loss.
The Stangs got things going on the right foot at the beautiful Jourdanton Sports Complex, as they used a pair of J-Town errors put into play by AJ Felker and Matt Contreras and a big double by Jeremiah Castro to take an early 2-0 lead.
J-Town responded in the bottom of the opening inning, as they rallied with one out to score a pair of runs themselves. This was courtesy of a triple, a single and a Natalia defensive error to tie things up.
Natalia stranded a runner in the top of the 2nd, as Jourdanton went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 2nd.
The Stangs went back to work in the top of the 3rd inning, as they used a Castro walk, a Manuel Garcia HBP, a single by Uriel Arellano and a fielder’s choice put into play by Zapata to score in two runs.
Jourdanton followed suit and responded with a pair of their own runs thanks to two hit batters, an error and three walks.
Natalia took their final lead of the game in the top of the 4th, thanks to a HBP-Felker and a double by Castro allowing the boys in blue to hold a 5-4 advantage.
From here, the wheels fell off, as Jourdanton produced five runs in the bottom of the 4th, two in the 5th and seven huge runs in the 6th to run away with this game 18-8.
The final three runs Natalia scored were in the 6th. They came courtesy of a Gavin Martinez HBP, a single by Felker, a walk by Castro and a single by Garcia.
During the 6.0 inning loss, Natalia used as mentioned five pitchers. Zapata pitched 4.0 innings, as he allowed eight hits, walked three, struck out three and allowed nine runs, eight of which were earned. Castro pitched for a very short time, allowed one hit. Contreras also pitched.1, allowed one hit, walked three and allowed four earned runs. Gomez pitched 1.0, allowed three hits, walked three and allowed five runs, all of which were earned.
At bat: Zapata 0-3, Garcia 0-3-1run scored, Castro 2-2-3RBIs-2runs scored, Joel Mendez 0-3, Contreras 0-4-1run scored, Martinez 0-1-1run scored, Felker 1-3-3runs scored, Arellano 1-1-1RBI, Gomez 0-4.
Defensive Put-Outs: Arellano 6, Felker 4, Garcia 3, Gomez 1, Martinez 1. Assists: Contreras 4, Zapata 1, Garcia 1, Castro 1.
By Eric Smith