Baseball & softball roundup 5-17 edition

AREA TEAMS INCLUDED: Brackenridge, East Central, McCollum, South San, Southside.

By Mike Considine

South San (22-11) took a seven-game winning streak into its best-of-three series against District 27-5A champion MacArthur (21-9). But it was out the window after the Bobcats lost 14-4 in six innings May 4 in Game 1.

That’s when the No. 4 seed from 28-5A accomplished a near-miracle and built a new streak in the process.

Returning to their home turf at Burrows-Gustafson Stadium on May 5, the Bobcats clawed back to win 2-1 in the ninth inning of Game 2. In Game 3, South San trailed 3-1 before a 50-minute rain delay May 6. They dominated afterward, winning the decisive game 4-3 in eight innings.

Bobcats senior Julian Lozano beat out an infield single and took second on a throwing error to spark the winning rally. Lozano moved to third on Marcus Kela’s bunt single. After an intentional walk to Jasiah Carraman, who nearly hit a game-winning home run in his previous at-bat, Marcus Estrada hit a slow roller to second base that enabled Lozano to score.

“To come through for the team feels great,” Lozano said. “We’ve worked really hard. With runners in scoring position, I was focusing more on the team than myself.”

With the game tied 3-3 in the sixth, Carraman sent a warning-track drive to the right-field fence. The MacArthur fielder bobbled the ball on the carom, then pinned it against the fence. That was ruled the inning’s third out.

Freshman starting pitcher Matt Reyna and sophomore reliever Anthony Chavez retired the last eight Brahmas batters to facilitate the extra-inning victory.

“We won that game three times,” South San coach Robert Zamora Jr. said. “One of those was our mistake – on a sacrifice fly, the runner left early from third. Then, you can use an object to assist you in making a catch. And then we finally won.

“Their momentum was carrying over, but we were able to capitalize on that. This was kind of a big win for South San.”

South San won a UIL-record seven state championships in 10 years under future University of Texas coach Cliff Gustafson, who died earlier this year and was featured in a tribute at the Bobcats’ first home game.

The Bobcats also reached the state championship game in 1975 and 1976 under the direction of Robert Zamora Sr. The Bobcats made their most-recent state tournament appearance in 1992.

Brack baseball establishes school record with bi-district success

Both of the area’s bi-district baseball champions were the No. 4 seeds from their respective districts.

Brackenridge (17-12), 27-5A champions in 2022, tied for third in the district this season. But the Eagles swept two games from 28-5A winner McCollum (19-9-1) to become the first Brackenridge team to win consecutive bi-district titles.

The Eagles won 6-3 May 4 at the Tejeda Complex and 10-3 May 5 at Wolff Stadium.

“We’re starting to play our best baseball at the end of the season,” second-year Brackenridge coach Bobby Behnsch said. “We have everybody back who was banged up or out. We’re going to play better in all phases of the game.”

Brackenridge was scheduled to play Boerne Champion (25-9-1) May 11-13 in a best-of-three series at Somerset.

Despite the final score, the Eagles had to fight to pull out Game 2.

McCollum led 1-0 in the second inning when Juan Morales Ochoa scored on a Brackenridge error.

The Eagles tied it on Gavin Perez’s squeeze bunt in the third and grabbed the lead in the fourth on a two-run double from Angel Ramirez and an RBI single from winning pitcher Hector Quiroga.

But the Cowboys chipped away with an RBI double by Afton Gutierrez in the fourth and a run-scoring single by Julian Roque in the fifth.

Brackenridge answered with six runs in the sixth, with help from bunts by Jesse Valdillez and Josh Arzola. Caleb Contreras and Ethan Barrientes brought in runs with a double and single, respectively.

“The boys responded to their comeback,” Behnsch said. “They never gave up on the situation. Their confidence is very, very high right now.”

The Eagles also rallied in Game 1 after McCollum closed within 3-2 in the third when Rico Salazar scored on a Brack error. An RBI single from Arzola capped a three-run Brack response that decided the game.

The Cowboys mustered a run in the seventh when Noah Sanchez and Ochoa produced back-to-back hits, but the Eagles maintained a three-run advantage.

South San softball sweeps area round, revisits quarterfinals for 1st time since 2017

The Bobcats (28-7) made short work of Buda Hays (24-12-1) in the area round May 4 and 5, but that’s not to say it was easy.

District 28-5A champion South San scored the last five runs to defeat Hays 7-4 in Game 1 on May 4. In Game 2, the Hawks tied the score 3-3 in the third inning May 5, but the Bobcats came through in the fourth with their second three-run rally. Both games were at Marion.

“Our defense was solid and our sticks came through big time,” South San coach Ray Castillo said. “Danyelle Olvera came through twice with game-changing at-bats. And (pitcher Jocelyn Perez) was able to get us out of trouble.

“Our girls didn’t panic at all. I didn’t see any faltering of emotions.”

South San was scheduled to be back in Marion again May 11-13 against Smithson Valley (23-14) for their first Region IV quarterfinal appearance since 2017.

Olvera led the Bobcats offensively in Game 1 against Hays, going 2-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs. Other offensive leaders were Kat Alvarado (2-for-4), Trinity Elias (1-for-1, 2 runs) and Perez (2 RBIs).

In the pitching circle, Perez walked one and struck out five.

“The girls were a little star struck in the first game,” Castillo said, “in the first three innings. They lost the lead and were down 4-2 in the fourth. Then they took a deep breath and went to work.”

South San received another big outing from Olvera (3 RBIs) in Game 2. Freshman Kendra Davila went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. As a pitcher, Perez allowed three earned runs, walked one and struck out six.

East Central softball perseveres to reach region quarterfinals for 1st time in 23 years

The first game of East Central’s Class 6A area round series gave little indication of the way it would develop.

Playing in Wimberley, the Hornets (22-13) thumped Dripping Springs (32-9) 10-4 on May 4. The Tigers won Game 2 5-4 on May 5, setting up a dramatic 6-5 East Central victory in 10 innings May 6.

The last two games took place at Marion.

Freshman shortstop Izzy Estrada recorded a walk-off single on a 2-2 count in the bottom of the 10th in the decisive game, after two rain delays. The clutch hit sent East Central to the Region IV quarterfinals for the first time since 2000.

The Hornets reached the area round for the third-consecutive season under coach Maggi Welham. East Central was scheduled to play Round Rock (22-9-1), No. 10 in the Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 6A poll, in the quarterfinals in a single game May 11.

Southside softball comes up a little short against Smithson Valley

Among area teams, Southside (18-17-1) was the surprise team of the bi-district round. And the Cardinals, the No. 4 seed in 28-5A, came close to repeating the magic in their first area round series since 1999, but dropped a pair of close games to Smithson Valley.

The Rangers edged Southside 2-1 in nine innings May 4 at Smithson Valley and 5-3 May 5 at Southside.

“It was a great series,” second-year Southside coach Christa Carrasco said. “They’re a tough team and a really well-coached team. But that wasn’t going to scare us, because we’ve worked a lot on confidence.”

The loss in Game 1 was especially heartbreaking because the Cardinals committed an error that allowed the winning run to score. In Game 2, Southside had bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, but only mustered one run after taking a three-run deficit into the final inning.

“My freshman year, we didn’t win very many games,” said Cardinals senior pitcher Jessilyn Zocher, who notched her 100th strikeout of the season in Game 1. “The focus changed when Coach Carrasco came in and we got much better. The bond between the girls has gotten so much better. She has made so much difference.”

Juztyne Torres scored the only run Cardinals in Game 1 on a bunt from Azalia Caballero after being hit by a pitch.

Southside had promising scoring chance with two outs in the top of ninth. Sevana Montoya led off with a single, Nilene Soriano was safe on an error and Danyelle Calzada was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. But Smithson Valley pitcher Arianna Capek recorded a strikeout.

Zocher allowed just five hits and no earned runs in the loss.

“Jessilyn didn’t overthrow,” Carrasco said. “She has just been consistent. When she’s on the mound, the girls are confident.”

The Cardinals kept fighting to the end in the second game, too.

The Rangers had a 5-1 lead in the sixth inning, with Torres scoring the only Cardinals run on a pair of Smithson Valley throwing errors. Torres also accounted for Southside’s second run in the sixth, coming home on on a bunt single by Aleah Hernandez.

“I feel like we never give up,” said Zocher, who stayed healthy this season after a long history of injuries. “We always fight until the last second of the game, no matter what the score is.”

In the seventh, after Zocher stranded two Smithson Valley runners, Soriano led off with a bloop single. Calazada was hit by a pitch once again and Jasmine Casias was safe on an error that loaded the bases with two outs.

A misplayed grounder off the bat of Torres closed the gap to 5-3, but the game ended with a tag at home plate on what appeared to be a bloop single from Hernandez.

“I feel like last year was new to them,” Carrasco said. “Winning was new to them. Having fun was new to them. Now they have the confidence of knowing the type of team they are.”