It was a mixed afternoon for the Odessa College baseball team as the Wranglers ended up splitting their doubleheader against El Paso Community College in Western Junior College Athletic Conference play Friday afternoon at Wrangler Ballpark.
The afternoon didn’t start off right for Odessa College as the team lost its first game 19-8 but bounced back to win game two 11-1 in a run-rule victory.
The Wranglers improved to 21-20 overall, 12-10 in WJCAC while the Tejanos fell to 18-24, 9-13.
“We got a quality start in game two,” Odessa College head coach Kurtis Lay said. “We were able to get the bats going. The opposite happened in game one.”
Both teams scored a run early in the game and were tied at 1-1 going into the third inning.
However, the Tejanos used a four-run surge in the third inning to take a four-run lead.
After taking a 3-1 lead, the Tejanos added to their lead with a run by Freidy De La Rosa off a single by Carlos Mauldin.
Shortly after, a run by Mauldin gave the Tejanos a 5-1 lead in the third inning.
Roberto Chaparro got out at first base and that brought the top of the third to a close.
Odessa College got a crucial response in the form of a double that went off the wall from Tucker Allen to leadoff the bottom of the third.
A sacrifice by Antonelli Savattere advanced Allen to third.
A sacrifice by Lazaro Alvarado scored Allen to make it a three-run deficit for the Wranglers.
A two-out home run by Manny Salas made it 5-3 shortly after.
Diego Alfonso-Rivera was then walked by El Paso pitcher Isaiah Gonzalez.
Odessa College’s Charlie Collins was unable to get to first on a grounder and the inning ended with a two-run game.
An RBI by Isaiah Garnica scored Juan Garcia to make it 6-3 in the top of the fourth inning.
That’s when the Wranglers made a pitching change, taking Leroy Tavarez out of the game and replacing him with Will Canalichio.
A failed pickoff attempt by the Wranglers allowed Garnica to steal home and the Tejanos had a 7-3 lead.
Things didn’t get any easier as Mauldin was walked after getting by a pitch and the game was still in the top of the fourth.
Josh Prado was soon walked and the bases were loaded for El Paso Community College.
However, a pop-up fly ball was caught for an easy out the Wranglers escaped to the bottom of the fourth with another four-run deficit.
A run by Cort Pryor came off a sacrifice by Alex Bustamante in the bottom of the fourth.
The Wranglers were able to load the bases soon after with two outs and Salas back up to bat with a three-run deficit.
Salas would only need one hit to give the Wranglers an 8-7 lead off a grand slam.
Odessa College went into the fifth inning with the lead.
The Tejanos responded in the form of a three-run home run by Diego Cardenas in the top of the fifth to make it 10-8.
The Tejanos added to their lead with a two-run home run by Mauldin to give the visitors a four-run lead in the top of the fifth.
A wild pitch enabled Cardenas to score in the top of the seventh.
A two-run homer by De La Rosa made it 15-8 soon after for El Paso Community College.
The Tejanos added two more runs before the inning was done.
A base hit scored John Edens for El Paso Community College and the visitors had a ten-run lead.
The visitors added another run before the top half of the inning was done.
The Wranglers were unable to fight back and lost the first game, 19-8.
The Tejanos finished the first game with 20 hits while the Wranglers had nine.
El Paso Community College pitcher Antonio Torres took the victory on the mound.
Odessa College pitcher Jackson Peters took the loss.
The second game would go much better for the Wranglers.
A base hit by Alvarado scored Diego Alfonso-Rivera for Odessa College to take an early 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning in game two.
El Paso answered back with a one-run homer by Roberto Chaparro in the top of the third inning to tie things up.
Odessa College responded in the bottom of the inning by scoring two runs to take a 3-1 lead.
“Realistically, whenever the start gives you some momentum, we were able to capitalize on it,” Lay said. “Game one was back and forth but the top of the seventh didn’t go our way.”
A triple by Bustamante scored Angel LaSalle to make it 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth.
A double into center field by Savattere scored Bustamante shortly after to give the Wranglers a 5-1 advantage.
Alfonso-Rivera scored a two-run homer and the fourth was still not over, giving the Wranglers a 7-1 lead.
Savattere’s RBI scored LaSalle in the bottom of the fifth.
A walk with the bases loaded and no outs allowed Bustamante to cross home plate for a 9-1 lead.
A wild pitch scored Savattere shortly after.
Another wild pitch scored Alfonso-Rivera to give the Wranglers the 11-1 run-rule win.
Odessa College had 13 hits while El Paso Community College had only four in game two.
Juan Villarreal took the victory in game two, pitching the entire contest for the Wranglers.
“It was huge,” Lay said of Villarreal’s performance. “It was exactly what we were wanting. We got kicked in the teeth in game one and for him to come out in game two and give us that outing was huge.”
El Paso Community College pitcher Edwin Sanchez took the loss on the mound for game two.
Both teams will resume their series with a doubleheader beginning at noon Saturday at Wrangler Ballpark.
