Photo courtesy of Cartershots
The Pampa Harvesters faced some of their most challenging opponents of their young season over the weekend as they traveled to Levelland for a tournament.
The Harvesters dropped games to Lubbock-Estacado (1-9), Midland-Christian (0-16) and Memorial (0-13), but bounced back to close out the tournament with the 10-9 win.
“This was the first time this year that we were really challenged as a whole,” Head Coach Austin Samulowitz said. “We took a few on the chin this weekend, but we kept getting back up. We were able to respond well in the last game against a really good Lubbock Christian team to finish out the tournament.
“We had some young guys step up in a big way in a tight game. The young guys showed that they can handle the close games.
The Harvesters' win against Lubbock Christian started with the Harvesters down 4-0 in the top of the second. Freshman Austin Hunt had a one-out single to get on base in the frame for the Harvesters. Two batters later, freshman Cruise Godino hit a two-out base hit, followed by junior Cy LeBlanc taking a hit by pitch to load the bases. Junior Gage Gamblin and Freshman Phoenix Lopez each drew RBI walks to get the Harvesters on the board 4-2.
Lubbock Christian got one run back in the bottom of the second to extend their lead to 5-2. Junior Jaime Soto hit a lead-off double, followed by a pair of base hits from Senior Clayton Rogers and Hunt to load the bases. Junior Eryk Ballew drew an RBI walk, Rogers scored on a wild pitch and Godino hit an RBI line drive to score Hunt, tying the game at 5-5. Three batters later, senior Jack Dyer reached on an error, scoring Godino with two outs left in the frame. The Harvesters tacked on one more run in the top of the third when Gamblin scored on a passed ball and extended the lead to 8-5 before the end of the inning.
“Jack has stepped up in a big way this year,” Samulowitz said. “He is seeing the ball well at the plate and hitting the ball hard. He is improving every game at third base. I love Jack’s approach to practice and his focus on improving. He is someone we are leaning on as we get closer to district play.”
Jack Dyer
Lubbock Christian got a run in the bottom of the fourth and the two teams started the fifth with Pampa leading 8-6. Gamblin hit a one-out single to get on base, followed by a Lopez base hit to put a runner in scoring position. Two batters later, Soto hit an RBI base hit scoring both Junior courtesy-runner Kamden Snelgrooes and Gamblin to extend the Pampa lead to 10-6.
The Harvesters held on in the bottom half of the frame to give Pampa the 10-9 win.
“We finally had some things go our way in the last game that hadn’t happened in the previous three games,” Samulowitz said. “Baseball is a sport that rewards those who do the little things right. One game you can look rough but bounce back and salvage the day and that’s what we did Saturday.”
The Harvesters compete in the Keller Tournament in Amarillo this weekend as they wrap-up their non-district schedule against Palo Duro, Levelland, Trinity-Christian and Caprock.
“This weekend will be another tough test for us as we head to the Keller tournament,” Samulowitz said. “We are really going to focus on fundamentals this week in practice and try to clean some things up on the defensive and pitching side.”
Stat Round-Up
Vs. Estacado
Junior Gage Gamblin pitched two innings with nine hits, seven runs, six earned runs, three walks and three strikeouts; Junior Eryk Ballew went two innings with four hits, three runs, three earned runs and one walk; Junior Evan Orand pitched one inning with one hit.
Senior Boston Botello went 1-3 with an RBI; Junior Jaime Soto went 1-3; Freshman Austin Hunt had a run scored and a walk; Freshman Phoenix Lopez had a walk. Neff had a stolen base.
Vs. Midland Christian
Senior Greyson Paronto went one inning with one hit, six runs, two earned runs, five walks and one strikeout; Freshman Cruise Godino went 1.1 innings with two hits, five runs, four earned runs, four walks and one strikeout; Freshman Phoenix Lopez went 1.2 innings with three hits, two runs, two earned runs and one walk; Junior Evan Orand had one hit, three runs and one walk; Freshman Austin Hunt had a hit and a strikeout.
Senior Max Neff went 1-3; Botello had a walk; Junior Eryk Ballew drew a walk; Junior Cy LeBlanc drew a walk.
Vs. Memorial
Junior Jaime Soto went four innings with nine hits, 10 runs, nine earned runs, four walks and five strikeouts; Ballew had one hit, three runs, three earned runs and one walk.
Neff went 2-3 with three stolen bases; Clayton Rogers went 1-2 with a double; Hunt went 1-2; Gamblin went 1-2 with a stolen base.
Vs. Lubbock Christian
Hunt pitched one inning with two hits, three hits, three earned runs, three walks and one strikeout; Paronto went three innings, got the win, five hits, two runs, one earned run, three walks and one strikeout; Godino pitched one inning with three hits, three runs and one walk.
Gamblin went 1-2 with two runs, one RBI, two walks; Lopez went 1-3 with an RBI, a walk and two stolen bases; Dyer went 2-4; Soto went 2-4 with a run scored two RBI and a double; Rogers went 1-3 with a run scored; Hunt went 2-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base; Ballew went 1-3 with an RBI, a walk, a double and a stolen base; Hunt went 2-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base; Godino went 2-3 with two runs scored, an RBI and a two stolen bases; LeBlanc scored a run and had a stolen base.