On a beautiful Monday at Mike Carter Field, the Tyler Junior College baseball team faced off against Angelina College and split a doubleheader.
The Apaches won Game 1, 5-4, in 10 innings and the Roadrunners bounced back to take Game 2, 4-2.
TJC (12-7) returns to play on the weekend, hosting Arkansas Baptist in a three-game set at Mike Carter. Friday’s single game is slated to start at 3 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon.
Angelina (10-10) plays Paris in a three-game series on Friday (2:30 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m. DH) in Lufkin.
Game 1
TJC took the first game in dramatic walk-off fashion, winning 5-4 in the bottom of the 10th. Zane Otten drew a walk and stole second base before a ground out moved him to third. Anthony Soriano then hit a single to right field which scored Otten and for the win. Kevin Kubezcka picked up his first win of the season on the mound.
The scoring started early in the game. Angelina was on the board first in the top of the second. Dillon Menville opened the frame with a double to center field; a bunt moved him over to third and Aaron Clemons reached first safely on the play. A passed ball scored Menville and a sac bunt moved Clemons to third. However, a strikeout and a fly out ended the threat from the Roadrunners.
Facing a 1-0 hole going to the bottom half, the Apaches took the lead away from the Roadrunners.
Soriano doubled before Brandon Webb was hit with a pitch.
A pair of back-to-back walks scored Soriano to tie the game at one. Eric Stegent hit a sac fly with all the runners tagging and moving up 90 feet. Manny Galvan then belted a double deep to center which almost hit the wall, allowing two runs to cross the plate to make it 3-1.
Angelina worked to regain the lead sending eight batters to the plate in the fifth. Zach Rome was the first Roadrunner on the bases after drawing a walk. He then stole second base before a Zach J. Smith double scored him. Matt Waller walked and was taken off the bases with a fielder’s choice. With runners on the corners, an Apache error allowed Menville to reach first safely and score another run to tie the game at three. A single by Clemons brought in the third and final run of the inning to put the Roadrunners up 4-3.
TJC tied things up in the bottom of the sixth when Brandon Webb got aboard with a single. A sac bunt moved him to second and a fielder’s choice moved him to third. He scored on a single by Stegent and the score was 4-4.
Game 2
Game two was a pitcher’s duel between TJC’s Kevin Williams and Angelina’s Austin Hinkle as they combined to throw five scoreless innings.
The Roadrunners put the first runs on the board in the sixth. With one out, Derek Steffek singled to center before Sam Kohler singled to right field to put runners on the corners. Smith then singled scoring Steffek from third and a single by Greg Belton scored Kohler to put the Roadrunners up by two.
The Apaches looked to tie the game in the bottom half of the frame with Galvan drawing a walk before he exchanged places with Tim Hunter due to a fielder’s choice. A wild pitch moved him to second and Justin Monsour drew a walk and stole second to put two Apaches in scoring position. Soriano stepped into the box and brought the pair home to tie the game at 2-2.
However, the Roadrunners plated a pair in the top half of the seventh and didn’t give up the lead for the rest of the game.
Alex Hrinevich singled and Clemons drew a walk before a sac bunt moved the pair over. A single by Smith scored Hrinevich and moved Clemons to third. Smith stole second but the throw went into center field allowing Clemons to score and make the final 4-2.