By Spencer Spilman
The Lehman Lobos baseball team played a tough district game Friday night against the Akins Eagles. But the Lobos struggled to bring runners home once they got on base.
While Akins’ offense struck the ball well, Lehman left 10 runners on base during the game, allowing the Eagles to run away with 6-0 win.
Lehman had trouble getting runners home after getting on base, but strong defense and adept pitching kept Akins from scoring until the third inning.
Adam Ivey came up with a runner on first and he found a pitch to hit. Ivey smashed a home run over the right field fence to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
Lehman threatened in the third after a leadoff single from Luke Stanaland. They were able to get him to second but were unable to get him any further.
Akins rallied in the fourth inning by scoring three runs after getting the first four runners on base.
They scored one on an RBI single, then followed it with back-to-back sacrifice flies to take a 5-0 lead.
The Lobos left two more runners on base in the fourth, including Luis Jimenez standing 90 feet away on third base.
The following inning, the Lobos loaded the bases and senior Zach Sendejo came to the plate looking to make it a one run game.
Sendejo unloaded on a pitch, leaving most in the stands to believe it could have been a grand slam.
But Akins’ center fielder made a catch at the warning track, ending the threat.
Both teams hit a lull at the plate and struggled to get anything going offensively.
Strong pitching was the reason, as Lehman used Braden Sullins and Courteney Curry on the mound.
Akins pitcher Jason Porter threw over 100 pitches in the game and was in command most of the night. He struck out seven Lobo batters and also helped his own cause with an RBI sac-fly in the fourth inning.
Lehman had a two out rally going in the sixth inning where they loaded the bases for a second straight inning, and for the second straight inning, they left all three on base.
The Eagles scored an additional insurance run in the seventh inning to give them a six run cushion.
Lehman couldn’t mount a comeback in the final inning and fell to Akins 6-0.
