Joey Hernandez and the Lehman baseball team will look to get back on track this week after losing three straight district games, including a 16-9 slugfest at Lobo Field Friday night. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
by MARK CAUL
It only took a couple of pitches for Lehman starting pitcher Hunter Lehman to know he was in big trouble against visiting Alamo Heights.
The Mules blasted three home runs off the freshman, including a pair of two-run shots followed by a deep grand slam in the top of the first inning that helped the Mules surge to a 16-9 win at Lobo Baseball Field on Friday night.
“Usually pitching is one of our strong areas but tonight our defense just had a lapse,” Lehman head coach Toby Robinson said. “We aren’t reaching our goals as a team yet and it’s very disappointing.”
The Lehman defense also committed four errors as the Alamo Heights lead ballooned to 10-0 before junior Nick Cerda got the Lobos on the board with a towering three-run homer to cut the lead to 10-3.
From there, the Lobos added two more runs and inched closer at 10-5.
The game’s biggest play may have come when Cerda misplayed a double play ball in the top of the sixth inning.
The Mules pounced on the extra opportunity to score five more runs and extend their lead to an insurmountable 15-5 advantage.
“That was a pretty big play for them,” Robinson said. “It’s a play that Cerda normally makes.”
Cerda slugged a 2-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to atone for his error to bring the Lobos back within 15-7.
The hitting display continued in the seventh with Alamo Heights tacking on another solo shot and Cerda narrowly missing a grand slam with a shot that landed just a few feet short of the center field fence with the Lobos down to their last few outs.
Cerda finished 3-for-4 with 6 RBI’s while Justin Vajgert, Braxton Rico and Hunter Lehman each contributed two hits for the Lobos.
Justin Penney came in to pitch 5 1/3 innings in relief for the Lobos and surrendered six runs (three of them unearned).
After opening the district campaign with an upset win over rival Hays, the Lehman Lobos are now in the midst of a three-game losing streak in league play but Robinson remains confident in his troops, who will face Clemens on the road before hosting Lockhart on Friday night.
“We’ve been here before so I know we can get back on track,” Robinson said. “We need to do well this week to finish up the first round of district play on a high note.”
