Andrews relief pitcher silences Decatur to lift Mustangs to 11-7 victory
By Robert Morgan | Published Sunday, May 31, 2009
Up against the most lethal batting order it has faced all season, Decatur High School baseball coach Chris Carter knew his team would need to drum up some runs to keep pace with Andrews Thursday night.
The Eagles came through early in the action as they scored seven runs on six hits and two errors in the first four innings to take the lead twice. That's when Andrews called on relief pitcher Ozzy Bueno, and he slammed the door shut on the Eagles as he allowed just one hit in the last three innings of the game to lead the Mustangs to an 11-7 win in game one of the Class 3A regional semifinal series in Abilene.
Andrews, which has an eye-popping team batting average of .381 and has scored at least 11 runs in 12 games this season, did not back down when Decatur took a 6-1 lead in the second inning. The Mustangs scored runs in each of the last five innings to slowly take command of a game that the Eagles previously controlled.
The game took a turn for the worst for Decatur in the top of the fourth inning when the Mustangs rallied from a 6-4 deficit. They used three singles and three walks issued by Jake Connally to move in front 7-6.
The Eagles answered in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a two-out double off the left-field wall by Brennan Moore. The senior scored on an RBI single by freshman Colton Parker to even things up at 7-7.
That was all the offense for the night for the Eagles as Bueno took over on the mound. The sophomore right-hander retired nine of the 10 batters he faced. Francisco Perez got the only hit on Bueno when he led off the sixth inning with a double, but he was later picked off running to third base.
Meanwhile, Decatur also changed pitchers and went with Andrew Gage the rest of the way. The move did nothing to slow Andrews as Ryan Diaz drilled a fifth-inning home run over the right-field wall to put the Mustangs in front for good, 8-7.
Andrews got a pair of doubles in the sixth inning to score one run and three singles in the seventh to push two more across home plate to secure the lead and get the win.
The loss dropped Decatur to 21-11 for the season, and it must now win game two of the series at 2 p.m. Saturday at McMurry University in Abilene to avoid the sweep. Andrews, ranked No. 10 in most state polls, moved to 21-7. The winner of the series will move on to the regional championship next weekend against the winner of the Brownwood/West showdown.
Andrews got on the scoreboard first as it took advantage of the first of two errors by the Eagles. Eleazar Luna received the free pass and then stole second and third bases before scoring on a wild pitch to make it 1-0.
After going down in order in the first inning, Decatur jumped all over pitcher Jesus Saldana in the second. In fact, Chad Harrison and Andrew Gage led off the inning with back-to-back home runs - both on the first pitch - to put the locals ahead 2-1.
That was just the beginning of things for the Eagles as they went on to load the bases on a walk to Zach Gage, an error that allowed Ryan Cangley to get on base and a perfect bunt single by Perez.
Jesse Cox struck out for the first out of the inning, but the Eagles kept things going when Gage walked home after Moore was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Justin Tompkins came through in the clutch when he ripped a two-run single to left field, which brought in two runs and gave Decatur a 6-1 lead.
Things started to unravel in the third inning for Decatur when Andrews bounced back from a scoreless second inning by posting three runs in the third. The biggest came from Malachi Melton who drilled an RBI double to the gap in left field to trim the DHS lead to four at 6-2.
Decatur's second error of the game set up the next run when Kyle Coomer knocked in Melton on a sacrifice grounder. Jeffrey Ramirez lined an RBI single to left field to make it a 6-4 ball game and set up the big fourth inning for Andrews.
