Hondo Anvil Herald

Owls rebound with one-hitter at Natalia

 

     After enduring a Friday, March 27, shellacking at home courtesy of Lytle, the Hondo Owl baseball team bounced back into the win column on Tuesday, March 31, getting a 3-1, one-hit, road win over Natalia.

     Friday’s game, nearly a run-rule, was a 15-6 win for the Pirates, who moved into sole possession of the District 28-3A lead with the win.

     Hondo, now 3-1 in league play and 15-5-2 overall, will travel to Cotulla Thursday afternoon, April 2, for a 6 p.m. game with the Cowboys. There is no JV contest. On Tuesday, April 7, the Owls will start the second half of the district schedule, hosting Dilley at 7 p.m.

Friday at Bridges Field, Lytle jumped on Hondo from the start, sending 13 men to the plate in the top of the first to put seven runs on the board.

     Hondo briefly made things interesting in the bottom of the second with four runs of their own. A two-run single by Anthony Garza brought Hondo back within 7-4. But that was as close as the Owls would get. Lytle added a run in the fourth, then put up five more in the fifth, and getting 90 feet away from a chance to end the game on the run-rule. But with Garza on the hill as Hondo’s third of five pitchers, a pair of strikeouts with the bases loaded ended the threat.

     Both teams scored twice in the seventh.

     Rudy Alvarado got the call on Tuesday in Natalia, just four days after the rough first inning against the Pirates.

     This time, the senior righthander was spot on, pitching a complete game, one-hitter, striking out 11 Mustang batters and walking just two. 

     Hondo got its first two runs in its initial at-bat. With Josiah Quintanilla and Mason Barr in scoring position, Jaxson Williams singled up the middle for a two-run lead. The Owls put together a two-out rally in the third. Joby Pimentel walked and came around to score on Garza’s single to left.

     Natalia scored its only run without benefit of a hit, on a walk, a passed ball, a groundout and a wild pitch. A leadoff single to right in the fifth inning was the Mustangs’ only hit of the night.

     Meanwhile, the Owls were held to just four hits themselves, with the last one being Garza’s RBI single in the third.