Rattlers drop last road game to New Braunfels Canyon

NEW BRAUNFELS —  San Marcos head coach Bryan Webb has said it in each of his team’s past couple games. The Rattlers are “snakebit.”

Webb isn’t superstitious. He believes you have to make your own breaks. He admits he sometimes carries a coin in his pocket for good luck but it hasn’t helped much. San Marcos cannot shake its snakebite, including in its 4.5-inning, 13-2 loss at New Braunfels Canyon on Thursday.

“There has been nothing that’s gone our way,” Webb said. “We’ve just been snakebit. Everything goes against us and we’re fighting 10 people out there. We’re fighting ourselves.”

The Rattlers struck first in the opening inning with a run from senior Ruben Miranda. Miranda hit a double to right center field in the visitors’ third at-bat. Junior clean-up hitter Gage Mason reached first base on an error by the Cougars’ second baseman, which allowed Miranda to turn two bases to pick up the score.

But Canyon answered with six runs in the bottom of the first to take a 6-1 lead. San Marcos went scoreless for the next three innings.

“We put ourselves in bad spots and then we decide we’re going to play and battle back in it and just don’t quite finish the job,” Webb said. “It’s just been inconsistent all year.”

The team gave up seven hits during the game, but three errors by the Rattlers allowed the Cougars to take a 13-1 advantage. The hosts entered the top of the fifth inning needing three scores to avoid the run rule.

Junior infielder Isaac Gonzalez used a bunt to get on base and junior outfielder Ryan Wilder followed with a 4-0 walk. Sophomore outfielder Kannon Webb loaded the bases after being hit by the first pitch of his at-bat.

Senior infielder Julian DeLeon moved Gonzalez home with another walk. But the Cougars changed pitchers and got the final out of the game to finish the 13-2 win in 4.5 innings.

“Like I’ve said, I’ve got a lot of pride and this program’s got a lot of pride and these kids have got a lot of pride,” Webb said. “They sometimes don’t show the emotion, maybe, like I do but I know they care deep down inside. And it hurts, you know? We haven’t had the wins we were hoping for and the scoreboard success but they’re still good kids.”

San Marcos (9-21, 2-11 district) will close out the season at home against San Antonio East Central (22-7-1, 11-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for senior night. Webb said he doesn’t care so much about winning the game. He just wants to see his team finish without a snakebite.

“Like I told them right now, ‘We’re going to come back Monday, come back with a good attitude and let’s try to end this thing on a high note,’” Webb said. “Win or lose, like I said, I’m still proud of them. Let’s go in there and finish this thing right. Let’s go in there and compete and let’s just see what happens when we put a complete ball game together.