Hondo Anvil Herald

Almost perfect in Pearsall

 

     Pearsall -- Hondo baseball came one inning away from posting a perfect record over the weekend in the Maverick Classic baseball tournament.

     In their third game of the tournament, a Friday morning, March 6, contest with Pleasanton, the Eagles scored a single run in the bottom of the sixth inning, just before the time limit took effect, to score a 1-1 tie with the Owls.

     Otherwise, Hondo run-ruled San Antonio Veterans Memorial, 12-2, on Thursday, and followed that later in the day on Thursday, March 5, with a 3-2 win over SA Kennedy, avenging an earlier loss to the Rockets in the Somerset tournament.

     After the tie with Pleasanton, the Owls turned around and run-ruled SA Saint Mary’s Hall, 15-2. In each run-rule victory for the Owls, it was the only loss of the tourney for VM or SMH.

     Hondo’s 3-0-1 record was still the best mark of any of the seven teams in the field.

     The Owls (10-3-2) will stay on the road this week. They’ll visit San Antonio Christian Thursday, March 12, for an 11 a.m. game, and will go to Bandera on Friday, March 13, for a 1:30 contest. Hondo will wrap up non-district play for the season on Monday, March 16, with a 7 p.m. game at Poth.

     In their tourney opener against Veterans Memorial, the Owls picked up momentum as the morning progressed. Hondo scored twice in the first inning, then added four in the second and tacked on another six in the fourth to put the 10-run rule into effect. The Owls totaled 11 hits, with three from Joby Pimentel and two each from Mason Barr, Rudy Alvarado and Kolten Alvarez. Alvarado drove in three runs, while Pimentel and Alvarez both had two doubles. Anthony Garza went the distance on the hill, allowing three hits.

     The Owls won a low-scoring contest over Kennedy later on Thursday, Hondo scored three in the top of the third, and held off the Rockets late, as they scored twice in the bottom of the sixth before time expired. Chris DeLuna, Josiah Quintanilla and Jaxson Williams all had two hits, while Derek Elizondo worked all six innings on the mound, scattering four hits and striking out eight.

     On Friday, Hondo took a 1-0 lead on Pleasanton in the third, when Mason Barr was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Otherwise, the Owls couldn’t string hits together to get any of their base runners home. Pleasanton scored its tying run with two out in the sixth. Alvarado pitched all six innings for Hondo, allowing three hits and fanning six.

     Finally, in their last game of the tourney, Hondo pounded out 16 hits in a 15-2 win over Saint Mary’s Hall.  Alvarez, Quintanilla and Williams all had three hits, with two each from Elizondo and Barr. Pimentel pitched four innings, allowing three hits and striking out four. Williams retired the side in order to close out the fifth inning.