Rattlers win opening games in the San Marcos Tournament

Back at home and hosting the San Marcos Tournament, the Rattlers got off on the right foot, beating the Killeen Harker Heights Knights 6-1 and the Norman Tigers 5-2.

Though the win against the Knights was good, along with stellar pitching, Head Coach Bryan Webb thought the Rattlers picked up their game in their second outing.

“The first ball game we were lacking some intensity, energy and just cruised through it,” Webb said. “Even though [we] won 6-1, I didn’t think we got better. The second game the intensity picked up, and we played better. We had great pitching in both games. Vlario Prado had a great start. Freshman Jack Vasquez had a great start. We got some timely hitting when we needed it, and the defense played solid as we always do.”

In their game against Harker Heights, the Rattlers put the heat on the Knights in the first inning with a lead-off single from Elijah Ramirez and a Harker Heights error to put runners on first and second.

Senior shortstop Kutter Gage Webb connected with a RBI single to score Ramirez as San Marcos went up 1-0.

Following a strikeout, third baseman Dylan Nunez added another run as his ground out allowed senior outfielder Tony Diaz to score from third as San Marcos went up 2-0.

The Rattlers struck back in the third inning as Ramirez forced a walk and Diaz hit a single into left field to put runners on first and second.

Following a fly out in the infield, senior first baseman and pitcher Reagan Chomel connected with a two-run double down the left field line to score both Ramirez and Diaz as the Rattlers extended their lead to 4-0.

The fourth inning saw San Marcos continue to pound the ball against the Knights pitching when Marco Duenez hit a ground ball single for the first hit of the inning.

Following a sacrifice bunt by Landon Munoz, Juan Munos scored Duenez with an RBI double into center field as the Rattlers pushed their lead to 5-0.

After Munos advanced to third on the fielder’s choice, Diaz brought him home with an RBI single down the left field line as San Marcos took a commanding 6-0 lead.

Despite Harker Heights scoring one run in the top of the seventh inning, it was not enough as San Marcos defeated the Knights 6-1.

Leading hitter for the Rattlers was Diaz who went 2-3 with two hits and one RBI.

Starting pitcher Prado threw a complete game, throwing seven innings while allowing just four hits, one earned run, zero walks and striking out four batters.

In their second game of the tournament, the Rattlers took on the Norman Tigers who made the trip from Oklahoma down to San Marcos.

Ramirez kicked the inning off with a bang by hitting a lead-off triple to give San Marcos an opportunity to score the first run of the game now 90-feet from home plate.

The Rattlers took advantage of the triple as a Tiger error on the throw to first allowed Ramirez to score while Diaz advanced to second to put San Marcos up 1-0.

Despite San Marcos being unable to home Diaz in the first inning, the Rattlers made up for it in the second when Duenez forced a lead-off walk.

Duenez stole second on the passed ball before scoring on a Tiger error to give the Rattlers a 2-0 lead.

San Marcos continued to pound the ball in the third inning when Kutter Gage Webb connected with a lead-off double on the right field line.

Following a Rattler strikeout, Nunez scored Webb on the RBI single as San Marcos extended the lead to 3-0.

San Marcos tacked on another run in the fourth inning with Ramirez hitting his second triple of the night allowing Munoz to score.

Ramirez then scored on a Kutter Gage Webb RBI single as the Rattlers were up 5-2.

Norman scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning but were unable to make a comeback as the Rattlers rolled to a 5-2 win over the Tigers.

Ramirez led the offense attack for the Rattlers going a perfect 4-4 with one RBI and two triples followed by Kutter Gage Webb going 2-4 with one RBI and one double.

Jack Vasquez earned the win for San Marcos, throwing five innings while allowing just four hits, one earned run, three walks and striking out four batters.

Zehavi Hernandez earned the save by throwing two innings while allowing just two hits, no runs, one walk and striking out three batters.

Pitching has been a strength for the Rattlers this season despite graduating the majority of the pitching staff from last season who are playing at the next level. “[Coach Davis] works his tail on it,” Bryan Webb said. “We have a great scouting crew who work their tails off. We put our kids in the right position and they make the pitches where we want them to make. The kids believe in our system and what we do. Coach Davis, Coach Gonzales, Coach Codgill and Coach Sambrano do a great job of lining up our defense, and I just take care of the hitting and putting runs on the board.”

San Marcos will play two more games against rival Seguin and Boerne before the press release.

Full recap of the tournament will be released for the Tuesday paper.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc