Rattlers drop Game 2 to split series with Steele

The Rattlers weren’t able to get in rhythm Friday night.

San Marcos fell 9-3 to Cibolo Steele to split their opening district series against the Knights. Steele jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning and carried their momentum throughout the final five innings of the game.

“We didn’t have a great night at the plate. We didn’t have a great night on the mound. We were behind in the count and [we had] too many walks. We had a chance there in the first and second to blow this thing kind of open, and we didn’t do it,” head coach Bryan Webb said. “Their kid on the mound did a good job of throwing the pitches when he needed to throw them. So we got popped right in the chin, and there was nothing really we could do about it.”

Senior Vlario Prado started on the mound for the Rattlers and held the Knights at bay in the first inning. Prado opened the game with a strikeout and a pop-up to right field, before forcing a groundout to end the at-bat after giving up a single to Steele’s third batter. Seniors Tony Diaz and Kutter Gage Webb got on base in the bottom of the first – thanks to Diaz being hit by a pitch and Webb forcing a walk. Diaz got all the way to third during the inning, but San Marcos wasn’t able to drive him home.

Prado started the second inning with a strikeout as well, but Steele began their three-run rally with a single during their second at-bat. The Knights followed that single up with another to put two on base, and a passed ball moved them both into scoring position. Another passed ball that also resulted in a walk brought in Steele’s first run of the game. The Knights capitalized with two runners on, driving in both with a two-RBI double to right field to push their lead up to 3-0. Prado forced a groundout afterwards to stop the bleeding. San Marcos once again got two runners on base via walks in the second but wasn’t able to drive them in.

After Prado gave up a single to start the inning, the Rattlers made a pitching change and brought in sophomore Caleb Gomez. The Knights got one more runner on due to a walk from Gomez, but afterwards the sophomore fielded an out on a sacrifice bunt and then finished off the inning with two straight strikeouts. The Rattlers went three up, three down at the plate in the bottom of the third.

“I told [the team] — I probably got outcoached and you probably got outplayed — it’s one of those nights where we’ve got to figure out what happened and not let it happen again. They did a good job, and they were hungry,” Webb said. “I told [the team] going in [that Steele was] backed into a corner and they’re going to come out swinging [because] their season’s kind of depending upon it, and they beat us. We didn’t play well defensively. We didn’t pitch well, and we didn’t hit well. So when you don’t have those three things, those three facets of the game, you’re not going to have much success in this league.”

Gomez started the inning with a walk before forcing a strikeout, then the Knights hit a single but right fielder Landon Munoz made a crossfield throw to get Steele’s runner out at third. San Marcos decided to make a pitching change and brought in Jack Vasquez who finished off the inning with a strikeout to hold Steele’s lead at 3-0. The Rattlers once again went three up, three down at the plate.

The Knights drew a walk to start the inning, but Vasquez threw twostraight strikeouts to seemingly close in on another scoreless inning. That’s when the zone started to get shaky for San Marcos — despite questionable calls — with three-straight walks bringing in Steele’s fourth run. The Knights followed that up with a single to bring in two more and extend their lead to 6-0. Zehavi Hernadez took over the pitching duties for San Marcos afterwards and despite forcing a grounder, an error in the infield brought in another for Steele to go up 7-0. Hernandez forced a pop out in the next atbat to end the inning for the Rattlers. The Purple and White went three up, three down for the third straight inning at the plate.

The defensive mishaps unfortunately continued in the top of the sixth for San Marcos with two infield errors committed after a single bringing in a run for the Knights. Steele followed that up with another single to push their lead out to 9-0. Diaz made a diving catch in center field to put two outs on the board for the Rattlers, and Hernnadez forced a pop out to end the inning.

The Rattlers were finally able to get some offense going in the bottom of the sixth — Diaz started off the inning with a single up the middle and Webb got on base after being hit by a pitch to start the rally. Senior Reagan Chomel drove in Diaz on an RBI single to right field, and Colson Geesee followed that up with a sacrifice fly to put another run on the board for San Marcos. The Rattlers piled on with a single before driving in another run on a sacrifice grounder to put up their third and final run of the inning, the Purple and White hit a pop up to end their at-bat.

San Marcos forced the Knights to go three up,three down at the plate in the top of the seventh, setting up the Rattlers to need six runs to extend the game. San Marcos also went three up, three down at the plate to end the game 9-3.

“We’re going to watch video in the morning. We’ll flush it out, we’ll review. We got to go back and create some competition in practice. [We’ll] work on some little things that have kind of hindered us all year. We tried to fight back there towards the end, but it was too late. We should have played better, and it’s this league — nobody’s going to go 15-0 — and all that means now is the best you can go is 13-2. It’s still early in the season and district play is 15 games for a reason and it’s just now heating up and just now getting fun,” Webb said. “It wasn’t pretty tonight and I’m not happy with the result, but it’s a long season, and it’s a marathon not a sprint. So we will go back tomorrow to the drawing board, and we’re not gonna push the panic button for any means. We just took one on the chin and we’re going to respond and get up and come back swinging next week.”

The Rattlers return to the field next week to take on Judson in a two-game series. They’ll play their first game at home on Mar. 26 at 7 p.m.

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