San Marcos’ first playoff appearance since 2018 came to a close Saturday afternoon.
The Rattlers fell 8-6 to Round Rock Westwood in game two of the series, competing in a back-and-forth affair that came down to the final out of the game.
“Super proud of these guys,” head coach Bryan Webb said. “They never quit. They exhibited what we preach in the program. I told them, I said, ‘you’re a direct reflection of your work ethic’ and they show up every single day and go to work. I mean, I'm super impressed with how they battled. We kicked ourselves in our own rear a few times and put ourselves in a hole. But, you know, to come back down (from) 8-3 and give ourselves a chance to tie it right there just shows the resiliency and the character of this team. You know, there were some negative things that we talked about a little bit first, but I said you know, ‘just for you guys to come out here and show that you didn't quit (and) that you battled, (and) you had two outs you didn't quit.’
“I said, ‘that just shows that you believe (in the team), and you believe you can win’ and the program is on the right track. It's back to where it was and good things are coming again. It didn't help our seniors leaving, but you know, we battled. Our kids are San Marcos kids, they’re blue-collar, they learn to work, they never quit and like I said, I'm super proud of them.”
Similar to Friday evening’s affair, Round Rock Westwood (23-6, 11-3) jumped out to an early lead. The Warriors put up three runs in the first inning off the back of three RBI doubles hit to different parts of the outfield, prompting the purple and white to sub in junior left-handed pitcher Ripp Soto for junior right-handed pitcher Tito Santos on the mound. Soto would halt the Warrior rally to end the first inning, stranding every runner with the bases loaded.
Round Rock Westwood continued its momentum at the plate in the second inning, putting up two more runs from an RBI single up the middle and a sacrifice fly out. San Marcos would make another pitching change during the inning, putting senior utility player Johnny Pardo on the mound after the Warriors scored their fourth run.
Pardo, the lone senior on the team, would make the most of his final game as a Rattler getting the purple and white out of the jam with minimal damage in the second before going on to pitch 2.2 shutout innings.
“Johnny I've had in the dugout since he was probably in fourth grade,” Webb said. “I had his brother RJ for four years and then Johnny, and, you know, Johnny made Academic All-State this week, which was super impressive. That’s a huge accomplishment for Johnny. That’s just a super award to get because you're putting the work in and you're doing your schoolwork. You know, Johnny is a kid (that’s) a four-year starter. He's played his guts out for us. He's played multiple positions, he's pitched, he shined today when we needed him to shine.
