Late CC Carroll rally foils Victoria East comeback
Victoria East’s Hunter Baros at bat during Wednesday’s game against Corpus Christi Carroll at Riverside Stadium.
Victoria East’s Hunter Baros looks to make a throw Wednesday afternoon against Corpus Christi Carroll at Riverside Stadium.
Victoria East’s Braddock Raven steps up to pitch Wednesday against Corpus Christi Carroll at Riverside Stadium.
Victoria East advanced to the baseball playoffs for the first nine seasons the program was in existence.
But after COVID-19 took away the 2020 season, the Titans have missed the playoffs for the last two years.
“We’re just trying to get over that hump,” said East head coach Wes Kolle. “We have to realize we have good players, and we have talent, and now we’ve got to go do it. There’s no more talking. There’s no more young excuse. Throw the excuses away. Let’s go do it and win ballgames.”
East rallied from a 4-1 deficit to take the lead against Corpus Christi Carroll, only to see it disappear in the top of the seventh and end in a 7-5 District 29-5A crossover loss on a windy Wednesday at Riverside Stadium.
The Titans dropped to 13-4 and have now suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season.
“We’re 0-2 this week, but when you look at it, it’s two games where we lock in and focus, we’re 2-0,” Kolle said. “We’re there. We’re close. We’re on the cusp, and that’s what we told them the other day after the King game.
“We’re on the cusp of doing great things. We’ve just got to get there and maintain focus one pitch at a time, one inning at a time and not try to do too much. We need to get in sync with the flow of the game and do what the game is asking you to do. It kind of unraveled there at the end.”
East trailed going to the bottom of the sixth inning before Xavier Ortega tied the game with a three-run home run, and the Titans took the lead on an RBI single by John Garcia.
“I’m proud of the fight,” Kolle said. “For five innings, it was just kind of meh. We had the situation in the third inning where we blew an opportunity, and I was thinking is this going to come back and bite us. But we fought back and took a lead. Now, we have to find that DNA to go finish the ballgame.”
East was one out from getting the win when Matthew Martinez drew a walk and scored the tying run on a bizarre play.
Caleb Jimenez hit a ball to shallow right field that East right fielder Grayson Younglbood fielded and threw to first base.
But Jimenez and first baseman Isaac Perez collided at the bag.
The collision knocked Perez down to the ground with the ball in his glove. Martinez came around to score the tying run.
Kolle argued to no avail that he had tried to call timeout, and the Tigers (11-6-2) regained the lead with three more walks and an error.
“The consequences for our walks, our leadoff walks, our two-out walks at the end of the day, that’s what cost us,” said Kolle of the nine walks issued by his pitchers.
The Titans will look to bounce back when they return to Riverside Stadium on Friday for another crossover game against Flour Bluff.
“I feel like we have a lot of experience as a team,” said senior Tre Hernandez. “We have varsity starters who have been here for three years. We only have three seniors, but we have a lot of experience. We just need to focus up in game situations.”
District 29-5A Crossover
Corpus Christi Carroll 7, Victoria East 5
Carroll 010 021 3 – 7 8 0
East 000 014 0 – 5 9 2
W: Matthew Rodriguez. L: Xavier Ortega. Highlights: (C):Dae Palomo 3-for-3, 3 RBIs; Chris Chavez 1-for-4, 2B, R, 2 RBIs. (E) John Garcia 2-for-2, 2 RBIs; X. Ortega 1-for-3, 3-run HR; Isaac Perez 2-for-2, 3B, R. Records: Carroll 11-6-2; East 13-4.
Mike Forman is the sports editor of the Victoria Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6588 or by email at mforman@vicad.com. Follow him on Twitter at @mikeforman21
