Coming off a tough loss to Jourdanton, the Natalia Mustangs responded with a big road win at Karnes City on March 27th. Natalia’s bats came alive, as they out-hit the Badgers 10-1 en route to a seven inning victory.
Natalia’s Jeremiah Castro was phenomenal on the mound, as he pitched all 7.0 innings, allowed one hit, walked two and struck out three.
“We knew this was going to be a big game,” Coach Philip Martinez said. “We did not want to start off district play 0-2. Castro went the distance on the mound and although we didn’t have him versus Jourdanton, he bounced back well.”
Natalia got off to a rather slow start, as they scored one run in their opening at bat thanks to an error put into play by AJ Felker along with a double by Caden Fregia.
The Stangs were able to add one more run in the top of the 3rd, as they used a Felker base on balls, a SAC bunt by Diego Zapata and a single by Uriel Arellano to give the boys in blue a 2-0 lead.
The third run of the game came in the top of the 4th, as Isaiah Gomez singled and eventually scored thanks to an error and two ground outs.
KC came alive in the bottom of the 4th as the Badgers used four defensive errors in the inning to score three runs to tie the Mustangs.
The game stood tied, until a huge 6th inning by the boys in blue. Natalia used an error put into play by Wyatt Woodson, a base on balls by Matt Contreras, a single by Fabian Ruiz, a base on balls by Felker, a single by Zapata, a single by Castro, a hit batter-Fregia, a double by Arellano and a single by Contreras to score eight huge runs fueling the Mustangs to a 12-3 road victory.
“Karnes City had an inning where we did not make routine plays, so they were able to tie up the game,” Martinez said. “Uriel Arellano had a big night for us with 4RBIs and we continue to tell our guys that all we have to do is put the ball in play to give ourselves a chance and that is what we did in the 6th.”
At bat– Zapata 2-4-2RBIs, Paul Almendarez 0-0-1run scored, Woodson 0-3-1run scored, Fregia 1-3-2RBIs-1run scored, Castro 1-5-1RBI-1run scored, Contreras 2-3-2RBIs-1run scored, Gomez 1-3-1RBI-1run scored, Felker 0-2-4runs scored, Arellano 2-4-4RBIs-1run scored and Ruiz 1-4-1run scored.
Defensive Put-Out leaders: Dustin Richardson 10, Contreras 3, Arellano 3, Felker 2, and Zapata 2. Assists: Fregia 3 and Castro 3.
By Eric Smith