San Marcos completed their second district sweep of the season, defeating the Converse Judson Rockets 11-4 to take the second game of the two game series.
The Rattlers improve to 14-9-1 for the season and 4-3 in district play.
“Winning is contagious with us,” Jack Vasquez said. “Once we get started, there's not a lot of people that can stop us. So with the bats getting stronger game by game, and with us just limiting the damage, I think we can beat anybody. So it's contagious and we're going to continue to keep winning and just trust each other.”
Following a 0-3 start in district play, the Rattlers have bounced back to sweep their district series against both East Central and Judson and now sit in third place in the standings.
“We changed our philosophy after those 3 losses to go one and 0 every ball game,” Head Coach Bryan Webb said. “Not looking ahead and we've won 4 in a row to put us right back in the mix. We know what's coming up next week with Steele. … So to get [win] number 4 is a big deal for us.”
The Rattlers struck first as Jack Vasquez hit an RBI single while putting runners on the corners with no outs.
Elijah Ramirez scored on a Judson balk before Charlie Helgeson hit an RBI single to make it a 3-0 lead.
DJ Vasquez connected with a two-run RBI single in left field before advancing to second on the throw, making it a 5-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second, Andrew Wilson hit a sacrifice fly to score Ramirez at third to extend the lead.
With the bases loaded, DJ Vasquez cleared the bases with a triple down the right field line, making it a 9-0 lead.
The Rattlers added more runs in the bottom of the third. With bases loaded and two outs, Colson Geesee connected with a two-run RBI single before advancing to second on the throw, making it an 11-0 game.
“The lineup's starting to settle in like we wanted,” Webb said. “We had a couple of new guys in there. They went and did their job. They know the role. D.J. Vasquez had a career night, We had a couple of starters go out, next guy stepped up and it was supposed to do. So our offense, since East Central, we're starting to click. Hopefully we continue to stay hot and keep driving in runs.”
Judson answered in the top of the fifth, scoring two runs on a Rattler error, cutting their lead down to 11-2.
The Rockets added two more runs on groundout RBIs as San Marcos’ lead shrunk to 11-4.
Judson looked to complete their comeback in the final two innings but closer Caleb Gomez shut down the Rockets, allowing just one hit, no earned runs, no walks and striking out three batters.
Jack Vasquez earned the win, throwing four innings while allowing no hits, no earned runs, three walks and striking out eight batters.
D.J. Vasquez had a career night, going 2-3 from the plate with a game high five RBIs.
“I just felt really confident today,” D.J. Vasquez said. “No pressure, no nothing.”
The Rattlers are back in play Tuesday night against the Cibolo Steele Knights. The Knights are 9-10-2 for the season and 4-1 in district play, coming off a series sweep against East Central.
First pitch is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday in San Marcos.
