HS Baseball: Rattlers fall to top-ranked Calallen

NEW BARUNFELS — The San Marcos Rattlers went toe-to-toe with Class 4A’s top-ranked team Thursday night in the first round of the Comal ISD Classic.

The Rattlers battled back from a 3-0 deficit against Corpus Christi-Calallen with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, but untimely errors, combined with two walks and consecutive doubles from Calallen in the top of the sixth spurred a five-run inning for the Wildcats, allowing Calallen to claim an 8-3 win at New Braunfels-Canyon’s Cougar Field.

Three San Marcos errors allowed Calallen to score three unearned runs in the top of the third, but the Rattlers battled back in the bottom of the fifth.

D.A. Tobias led off with a single, as Cruz
Rodriguez, David Hamilton and Jesus Rodriguez followed with one-out walks. Colin Gonzales singled to drive in Tobias, as Elijah Perez came through with a two-run triple to right field, tying the score at 3-3.
Calallen (6-1) countered with its five-run sixth, an incident which didn’t surprise SMHS head coach Bryan Webb.

“We had a couple of errors and some walks and everything blew up in a hurry, and that’s what good teams do to you,” Webb said. “We gave them hell and weren’t intimidated. If we learn from our mistakes against teams like this, then when things count for real in district, we will be ready.”

SMHS senior starter Colin Gonzales had a strong outing, giving up two earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

“He found his spots and kept them off-balanced for most of the night,” Webb said.

San Marcos (4-3-1) resumes tournament play today with a 10 p.m. game against El Paso-Parkland, followed by a 4:45 p.m. game against Boerne-Champion, which is ranked No. 6 in Class 4A.

On Saturday, the Rattlers face San Antonio-O’Connor at noon, followed by a 2:30 p.m. game against St. Michael’s.