Rattlers shutout Rockets on senior night

The Rattlers took care of business Tuesday night.

San Marcos secured an 8-2 win over Converse Judson on senior night after a five-run second inning set the tone for the game. Seniors Marco Duenez, Tony Diaz and Kutter Gage Webb all drove in runs in the second, contributing to the offensive explosion that propelled them to victory.

“They were focused. They’re really working hard in the cage and they’re doing what they’re supposed to. We’re working on being selective, but we know the pitching is fixing to get tougher. We know what we’re up against Friday, and we know what we’re going to see next week,” head coach Bryan Webb said. “They’re putting the work in, they’re being patient. It’s more quality now than quantity. And we’re trying to keep our legs, and we’re trying to be fresh. And we look forward to going over to New Braunfels on Friday.”

Freshman Jack Vasquez got the start on the mound for the Rattlers and kept the Rockets on their toes running the bases throughout the night. After giving up a leadoff single, Vasquez forced a grounder where Webb threw out the lead runner. Vasquez followed that up by forcing a pickle in between first and second after a stellar pickoff attempt, where Webb eventually tagged the runner out. Vasquez finished off the inning with a strikeout. Diaz started off the game with a single of his own, but the Rattlers weren’t able to get anything else going at the plate in the first.

Vasquez continued his momentum in the second, putting the Rockets down in order to keep them off the scoreboard. Freshman Elijah Ramirez got the first runner on base for San Marcos in the inning with a walk, and Duenez followed him up with a stand-up triple that turned into a two-run inside the park home run after the throw to third went out of play. San Marcos was not done yet though — two more batters got on base for the Rattlers and Diaz smacked a two-RBI double to the left field wall to push the lead to 4-0. Webb stepped to the plate next and knocked an RBI-triple to make their lead 5-0. Judson forced a pop out to end the inning in the next at-bat.

“I just got a good barrel on [the double]. At first, I didn’t think I had a good barrel, but I just heard Coach Webb yelling ‘run, run, run,” Diaz said. “And I looked up in the outfield, and it was over [Judson’s] head. I’m seeing the pitches good now, and I’m just getting better at hitting [as the season has gone on].”

“Hits are contagious, and we had the bottom of the order get on. That’s why me and Tony are up there to drive them in. If they’re not on, then we get on. But Tony got the RBIs that I wanted, but I got up there and I saw a pitch that was considerable, and I took it [and drove him in],” Kutter Gage Webb added.

The Rockets made their best attempt to respond quickly, putting runners on first and second after their first two at-bats in the third. Pitching coach Trey Davis took a mound visit with Vasquez, and the freshman responded with three-straight strikeouts to strand both runners on base and complete another scoreless inning. San Marcos drew two walks at the plate, but weren’t able to bring them home.

After another two outs from Vasquez in the fourth, senior Vlario Prado was called to the mound. Prado finished off the inning by forcing a groundout to put up another zero on the scoreboard. Vasquez got on base with a walk to kick things off at the plate, and a wild pickoff attempt moved him to third base. Diaz followed that up with a sacrifice bunt to bring Vasquez home, extending the lead to 6-0. The Rattlers got two more runners on afterwards with a single and a walk, and Ramirez brought in two more runs with a double to the right-center gap that built San Marcos’ lead to 8-0. Judson finished off the inning with a strikeout.

Prado continued San Marcos’ solid showing on the mound, putting the Rockets down in order with two strikeouts and a groundout. San Marcos picked up a single in the fifth, but didn’t get anything else going at the plate.

“Our pitching staff has been solid all year. It’s been our strength. It was good to see Jack get in there throw strikes — repeated strikes — and get in there and compete. Vlario, he came in and looked like he’s supposed to look. We got a couple more kids in there [during] the last part of the game that we’re probably gonna need in the playoffs and in the future,” Webb said. “So experience is wisdom and you don’t know until you get them in there. It’s a lot different on the JV than it is the varsity. Most of those kids have been pitching on the JV. So they got some varsity experience today and they learned from their mistakes. But, [we’re] confident in anybody we put out there and we’re hot and ready to make a run.”

Sophomore Ronaldo Mendez-Soto took the mound in the sixth, and put together another three up, three down inning for the Rattlers defensively. Junior Zehavi Hernandez got on base with a single at the plate, but San Marcos didn’t get any other batters on base in the inning.

Sophomore Cole Wiatrek was placed on the mound in the seventh to close out the win for San Marcos. An error at third with the bases loaded brought in Judson’s only two runs of the game, but Wiatrek responded by forcing a grounder afterwards to end the game and secure the 8-2 victory.

San Marcos returns to the field at New Braunfels High School on Apr. 26 at 4:30 p.m.

“We’re going to go in there, [and] we’re going to do our thing. We’re going to play our game. We’re going to go in there calm and simple and treat it like it’s a glorified scrimmage. We’re not going to get into all the hype, but we know what’s at stake, and we’re in the playoffs. And that was the goal. We’ll know the possibilities of who we’re playing probably Thursday. We know New Braunfels is tough and they got a good ball squad over there,” Webb said. “We’re going to go there and try to do what we did last time and be calm and patient and take a chance when we get there. It’s a baseball game, and we’re going to go there and do the best we can with what we got and when the chips fall, we’re going to see where we’re at.”

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District 27 Baseball Standings

San Marcos 11-3

New Braunfels 11-3

Clemens

7-7

Steele

7-7

East Central 5-9

Judson

1-13

Tuesday Scores

San Marcos 8, Judson 0

New Braunfels 3, Clemens 0 Steele 3, East Central 1

Friday Games

San Marcos @ New Braunfels* Clemens @ East Central Judson @ Steele

*Friday’s game time has moved up to 4:30 p.m.