Pitcher, Luis Escajeda, attempts to pick off a runner at first in strong showing against the Mustangs.
Photo provided by CCAISD
By Victor Pallares
On Saturday, April 12th, Van Horn hosted the Fort Hancock Mustangs. The Eagles jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. The home team 10 run ruled the Mustangs in five innings. Damien Tarango, Fabian Baeza, and Juan Zamora got the bats going for the Eagles with 2 hits each. Zamora led the Eagles with 4 RBI’s while Baeza scored three times for the home team. Defensively, Luis Escajeda pitched five strong innings and allowed just 1 hit. Escajeda fanned 8 batters and gave up 3 walks.
On Tuesday, April 19th, the Eagles traveled to McCamey to close out the 2nd round of district play. The Eagles struggled in the first 6 innings to get the sticks going. McCamey’s pitcher managed to shut down the Eagles. Defensively, the Eagles gave up four runs.
However, the Eagles started a rally in their last at bat. Matthew Acosta and Baeza advanced to 2nd and 3rd. Jeremy Virdell hit a 2 run double to end the shut out. After a passed ball, Virdell advanced to third. With two outs in the top half of the 7th inning, Virdell stole home to bring the Eagles within one run of completing the comeback. James King found a way to get on base and continue the Eagle rally. King managed to advance to 2nd base. With a passed ball behind the catcher, King advanced to third. The catcher’s throw sailed into left field, brining in the tying run. The Eagles held off the Badgers in the bottom half of the 7th inning to force the game into extra innings.
In the Eagles half of the 8th, the Eagles got the sticks going. Once again, Virdell came up huge for the Eagles with two RBI’s to bring the score to 6-4. The Eagles found two more runs to bring the score to 8-4. With their first lead in the entire game, the Eagles faced the task of holding off the Badgers in their half of the 8th inning.
The Badgers loaded the bases to start their rally. The Eagles found an out after a batter grounded out to Virdell at 2nd. With one out and runners in scoring position, Baeza came up with a huge strike out for the 2nd out. With two outs, 8-5 lead, and runners at 3rd and 2nd, Baeza managed to get the batter to fly out to Luis Escajeda in left field for the final out of the game. The Eagles completed the come back to remain undefeated in district, 6-0. The Eagles will begin the final round of district play Friday as they host Anthony. First pitch is set for 5:00 p.m.
