Saturday, May 4, 2024 at Shelbyville Dragon Baseball Park –
On Friday the Joaquin Rams varsity baseball team lost Game 1 of a Bi-District Playoff Series with the Chireno Owls by a 6-5 score. However, the Rams came back on Saturday to take wins in Game 2 (9-4) and they took Game 3 by a convincing 21-2 score.
In the second game JHS took a 4-0 run lead in the top of the first inning when Derik Holt walked to start the game and Braylin Umbrell singled. An Owls infielder committed an error on a grounder by Caleb Brooks which allowed Holt to score. A double by LJ Whitton drove in Umbrell to give the Rams a 2-0 advantage Brooks scored when Karson Rodgers drew a walk later with the bases loaded and gave JHS a 3-0 run lead.
Chireno’s Benji Blount singled and scored during a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the first inning to cut Joaquin’s lead to 3-1. In the top of the third inning Joaquin’s TJ Hawkins, Karsen Rodgers, Jake Neal and Tate Bass each scored to extend the JHS lead to 7-1. Chireno fought back to cut Joaquin’s lead to 7-4 by the end of the third inning.
An RBI double by LJ Witton in the sixth inning drove in Holt who had walked earlier to begin the inning. The final run of Game 2 came when Rodgers led off the inning by drawing a walk and he later tagged and scored on a sacrifice fly by teammate Tate Bass to give JHS the final 9-4 lead that held up throughout the remainder of the seven-inning game.
Game 3 proved to be lopsided throughout. The Rams brought 15 batters to the plate in the top of the first inning and took a 11-0 run lead before the Owls could get three outs to end the first inning after Joaquin used 9 hits, 3 walks and two errors and the Owls used 4 pitchers to try to stop the offensive.
Joaquin extended their lead to 13-0 with scores from Neal and Bass in the top of the second inning. The top of the third saw JHS balloon their lead to 19-0 in a rally where they brought ten batters to the plate. In the top of the fourth JHS scored two more runs to go up 21-0. Chireno added the final two runs, one each during in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings but the game was called on the mercy-rule at the end of the fifth inning.
Joaquin will face Centerville next week in the Area Round of the 2024 Texas UIL Baseball State Playoffs time and date is pending at press time.
