After suffering a lopsided loss to the Jourdanton Indians during their first round 26-3A battle, the Natalia Mustangs got revenge last week at home.
Natalia Mustang Senior Ray Garza was on his game on the mound, as he threw 7.0 innings, scattering four hits while striking out six keeping the Tribe off balance.
Offensively, the Natalia mustangs scattered six hits of their own throughout the ball game, as this was a true defensive battle.
When it was all said and done, the Mustangs had plenty to celebrate about with a walk off single by Nathan Vasquez which scored in Manuel Saldana lifting the Stangs past the Indians.
“Our game was a close one, but we were able to pull away with the win,” Coach Philip Martinez said. ‘Rey Garza took a great command on the mound and it was probably his best game since Laredo Nixon.”
This defensive battle resulted with just six Jourdanton batters being stranded and ten Natalia batters being stranded.
Going into the 7th, Natalia shut down the Indians in three straight outs thanks to a pair of Ks by Garza and an L-8 out.
Natalia’s Saldana started off the bottom of the 7th with a nice double to left field before advancing to 3rd base on a balk. After watching the third batter of the inning fly out for Natalia, Nathan Vasquez came up huge with a single to left field which scored in Saldana and gave the boys in blue a 1-0 victory over the Indians. What was big about the win, was the fact they are now tied for 2nd place in 26-3A.
“Our defense made some great plays at crucial times and we got out of jams just as they did throughout the game,” Martinez said.
“Offensively, we didn’t put the ball on the ground as much, especially with the win. Saldana stretched his hit into a double in the 7th and he has turned it around this year coming up with big hits. Nathan Vasquez also was able to bring in the big run and I was so proud of how our guys responded from our first game versus this squad.”
At Bat: Garza 1-2, Figueroa 0-1, Saldana 0-1, Jeramiah Castro 0-3, Anton Felker 0-2, Isaiah Gomez 1-2, Javier Hernandez 1-2, Antonio Trevino 0-0, Vasquez 1-4-1RBI and Alex Valdez 0-4. Defensive Put-Outs: Valdez 6, Figueroa 6, Dustin Richardson 4, Castro 3, Garza 1, Gomez 1.
Upcoming Games
The Mustangs were on the road in Karnes City on press night battling the Badgers in their final meeting of the season.
This coming Friday, the Mustangs have a huge game at home as they host 26-3A district leading Poth for a 7:00 p.m. battle. If the Mustangs were to beat Poth, they could still have a realistic shot to finish possibly tied with the Pirates for the lead, if Jourdanton was also able to defeat Poth in the second round of district.
The final 26-3A battle scheduled will be April 28th on the road at Ft. Sam Houston Robert G. Cole High School.
Eric Smith
Staff Writer