By Charles Dee
In the third and final game of the Rebels two out of three series with Leander, Senior Calvin Coker closed the door on the Lions in the Rebs’ 11-1 victory.
With the Rebel bats pounding out 17 hits in the run-rule victory, and Coker overpowering the Lion offense, it would seem the series lacked drama. However, in the Friday night game in Leander, the Rebs, in a 19 inning donnybrook, lost 4-3, and had to bounce back with a 6-1 win in the early game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
On Friday, the Lions scored two in the first and one in the third, which the Rebels matched with a run in the second and a pair in the fourth to tie the score, thus ending the scoring for the next fourteen and a half innings.
Senior Tyler Woodmansee held the Lions at bay through eight, and Junior Trey Dickerson hurled the next ten inning in the longest game in Rebel baseball history. The Rebs threatened in the 12th and 13th with runners on second and third with one out, but both times sterling defensive play by the Lions squashed the chances. The game ended on a walk off single to right with the bases loaded and one out.
On Saturday, the Rebels turned to the dependable arm of Mike Gonzales to anchor the get even victory. Gonzales scattered eight hits through 6 1/3 innings and allowed only one run to spark the Rebels 6-1 victory. The Rebel bats, led by Devin Palm’s two hits, Gonzales’ own two hits and the two RBI’s of Justin Montana, tallied three in the third to break a scoreless tie, add one in the fifth and two in the sixth to put away the Lions and even the series at one each.
The rejuvenated Rebel bats stayed hot in the series finale. Justin Montana, 3-5 for the game, started the hit parade with a stinging double to left, followed by singles by Zach Ibarra, 3-4, J.C. Cerda, 2-3 , and a big double by Justin Diaz, 3-4, to plate three in the first.
After allowing an unearned run from a walk and a pair of errors, Coker settled down, striking out six and holding the Lions to reach base only twice more in the final four frames.
The Rebs kept the pressure on with David Riojas and Mike Gonzales chipping in two hits apiece to help the Rebs score three in the third and fourth and the finale two in the sixth to firmly stamp the win.
Now 25-5, the Rebs face district rival Kerrville Tivy in the Regional Quarterfinals on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, if necessary, May 15, 16 and 17.
