Hondo Anvil Herald

Owl baseball takes pool in South
Texas Slugfest

 

By Jeff Berger

Anvil Herald Publisher

 

     Except for one rough inning, Hondo baseball had a good weekend for pitching and defense in the South Texas Slugfest.

    The Owls were 3-1 in their four games, tying with Palestine atop the Pool 1 standings, but with their head-to-head win over the Wildcats, Hondo finished first in the pool. 

     With a total of 20 teams – five teams playing round-robins at each of four sites – Hondo, Uvalde, Eagle Pass Winn and Devine wound up atop each of the pools.

     In the Pool 1 opener Thursday morning, Feb. 26, at Bridges Field, the Owls walked it off for a 4-3 win over Pearsall. With the Owls trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth (the game’s final inning due to a 100-minute time limit), Joby Pimentel reached base on an error and Mason Barr followed with a single. With one away and two runners in scoring position, courtesy runner Jack Gruber came home on a passed ball, and Kolten Alvarez singled to left, scoring Barr with the game-winner. 

     Hondo took its first lead on a walk to Josiah Quintanilla, with an RBI groundout from Rudy Alvarado.

     After the Mavericks scored three times in the top of the fourth to take a 3-1 lead, Jaxson Williams led off with a single and came home on a Quintanilla sacrifice fly to left.

     Pimentel went the distance on the mound, getting the win for the Owls, allowing just three hits to the Mavericks and no earned runs.

    In the late game on Thursday, the Owls surrendered two runs to Palestine in the first inning, but the defense was clutch the rest of the way in a 4-2 win. The Wildcats got their share of baserunners, but stranded 11 for the game.

     Hondo chipped away steadily with single runs in each of its four at-bats. Quintanilla walked in the first and moved around the bases on two wild pitches and a balk. Alvarez also walked in the second, and scored on Quintanilla’s bases-loaded, two-out infield single, to tie it at 2-2.

     Alvarado led off the third with a single, and also made it home on a wild pitch. In the fourth, a bases-loaded walk to Pimentel brought home Quintanilla with an insurance run. Derek Elizondo went the distance on the mound, scattering seven hits and striking out three.

     Hondo’s rough inning came in Friday’s final game, an 8-5 loss to Lockhart. With the Owls leading 3-1, the Lions unloaded for seven runs on seven hits, helped along by two Hondo errors. Lockhart had only two other hits the rest of the game.

     Hondo had eight hits in the game, with Quintanilla and Elizondo both going 2-for-4. Quintanilla drove in three runs, while Elizondo and Layton Pope both scored twice.

     In the Saturday morning, Feb. 28, opener, the Owls again surrendered two runs in the first inning to Zapata, but Alvarado held the Hawks to just one hit the rest of the way, as Hondo earned a 4-2 win. Pope led off the Owls’ half of the first, getting on base via catcher interference, and came around to score on Alvarado’s sacrifice fly.

     In the third, Barr reached base on a single. Consecutive two-out walks to Pimentel, Alvarez and Gruber set the table for Anthony Garza, who lined a two-run single to left.

     Alvarado struck out six Hawk batters and gave up no hits after the second inning.

​

Owls in Pearsall for final tourney

​

     In their final tournament of the season, the Hondo baseball team will play twice Thursday, March 5, and twice Friday, March 6, as one of seven teams in the 2026 Maverick Baseball Classic, hosted by Pearsall High School.

     The tournament is preset, with all teams playing either three or four games during the weekend.

     The Owls will play in the early game today against San Antonio Veterans Memorial, starting at 9 a.m., and will play again at 1:30 p.m. against SA Kennedy.

     On Friday, the Owls will go back-to-back, facing Pleasanton at 9 a.m. and SA Saint Mary’s Hall at 11:15.

     Other teams in the field are Pearsall and Cotulla.

     All games will be played at Pearsall’s Carroll Nations Field.

 

Hondo tops Jay

 

     San Antonio -- Hondo baseball chalked up a nondistrict win on Tuesday, March 3, scoring five runs in the first two innings on the way to a 6-2 win over 5A John Jay at Northside Field #1.

     The Owls (7-3-1) will go to the Pearsall tournament Thursday and Friday, March 5-6, for a total of four games. During Spring Break, which is next week, the Owls will visit San Antonio Christian on Thursday, March 12, and will go to Bandera the next day.