That’s not a football score. The Pampa Harvesters (8-5, 1-0) opened District play with a]21-6 in their win over archnemesis Borger Bulldogs on Wednesday afternoon. The game had previously been delayed due to storms in the area on Tuesday, creating a two-day, back-to-back game situation.
“We’re happy anytime we can travel to Borger and get a win, in any sport,” Head Coach Austin Samulowitz said. “It’s a tough place to play and they have one of the best players in the area.
“Very proud of our guys for handling the weather break and having to travel two days in a row, staying focused, and playing well both days. Jaime Soto having to stop and start again is not an easy thing to do but showed a lot of maturity and toughness to be able to pitch both days”
The Harvesters wasted little time getting on base in the contest, with Senior Max Neff hitting a line-drive double, followed by a walk from Seniors Boston Botello and Jack Dyer. Junior Jaime Soto drew an RBI walk to put the Harvesters on the board early. Senior Clayton Rogers plated two runners with an RBI single to centerfield, putting Pampa up 3-0 early in the first inning.
The Harvesters leaned into base-running after Junior Gage Gamblin drew a walk. Junior Eryk Ballew scored on a passed ball, and Rogers ran the bases before scoring during a ground out by freshman Austin Hunt. After the dust settled in the first, it was 6-0 Pampa.
Borger got some runs back in the home half of the first, scoring three runs to make it 6-3 Pampa.
In a comparatively quiet second inning, Dyer reached scoring position on a lead-off double, and got to third on a ground out by Soto, setting up the RBI sacrifice by Rogers to lead 7-3.
Clayton Rogers
“Clayton has had a great start to his senior season. He is on fire at the plate and playing really well in the outfield,” Samulowitz said. “His confidence is through the roof right now and we as a team are benefiting from his game.”
Borger tacked on one more in the bottom of the second to make it 7-4 Pampa.
In the top of the third, Hunt lead the inning off by drawing a walk. Two batters later, Neff hit a single, followed by a sac fly from Botello to plate Hunt. Dyer followed Botello’s RBI up with an unfielded ground ball, plating Neff. After three it was 9-4 Pampa.
The Harvesters defense found a groove in the fourth, with Soto retiring a batter and the infield getting the job done for the other two outs.
The Harvesters added another two runs in the fourth with Freshman Phoenix Lopez hitting a pop fly plating Rogers and fellow Senior Conner Hall. After Borger added a run in the home half of the fourth it was 11-5 Pampa.
The Harvester led off the top of the fifth with a base hit from Dyer, followed by a walk from Soto. The Bulldogs put together a pair of outs before Hall hit an RBI double plating Dyer and courtesy runner Ballew. Soto added a pair of strikeouts in the fifth, but Borger did add their final run of the game to make it 13-6 Pampa.
The Harvesters’ bats opened the game up even more in the top of the sixth. After Lopez (who later scored on a wild pitch), Neff, Botello and Dyer reached, Soto helped his cause with an RBI single to score Botello and Neff. Rogers drew a walk followed by a sac fly from Gamblin. Hall reached on an error, setting up Senior Tristan Bagwell with an RBI single, scoring Soto. Lopez hit a line drive single to score Rogers, followed by an RBI walk from Neff. Botello hit a grounder to second, allowing Bagwell to score on the fielder’s choice. After all the dust settled, it was 21-6 Pampa in the middle of the sixth.
The Harvesters infield did their job to end the game and Pampa secured their first District win 21-6.
The Harvesters return to action on Friday when they travel to Hereford looking to make it a 2-0 road trip. Game time is at 5 p.m.
“We have our hands full traveling to Hereford on Friday,” Samulowitz said. “They have a solid team and are coached well by Coach Davis. We were able to beat them twice last year, so we know they will be motivated to get us back this year. They have two All-District pitchers who we are excited to see and look to play well against.”
Stat Round Up
Junior Jaime Soto earned the win with five innings pitched, three hits, six runs, one earned run, seven walks and four punch-outs; Junior Gage Gamblin pitched one inning with two walks.
Senior Max Neff went 3-4 with three runs scored, a double, an RBI, three stolen bases and two walks; Senior Boston Botello had two runs scored, two RBI, a walk and a stolen base; Senior Jack Dyer went 2-5 with four runs scored, a double and a walk; Junior Jaime Soto went 1-3 with a run scored, three RBI and two walks; Senior Clayton Rogers went 1-1 with three runs scored, three RBI, a stolen base and two walks; Junior Gage Gamblin went 1-3 with a run scored, an RBI and a walk; Senior Conner Hall went 2-5 with two runs scored, two RBI, a double and a stolen base; Freshman Austin Hunt had a run scored, an RBI, a walk and a stolen base; Senior Tristan Bagwell went 1-1 with a run scored and an RBI; Freshman Phoenix Lopez went 3-4 with a run scored, four RBI and a walk.