The Rattlers were near perfect in the first inning of their game against Converse Judson inside the San Marcos baseball stadium on Tuesday.
Senior starting pitcher Ruben Miranda struck out each of the Rockets’ three leading hitters in the top of the frame. Junior infielder Isaac Gonzalez hit a double in the hosts’ first at-bat, then stole third base. Senior outfielder Julian DeLeon hit a sacrifice fly to bring him home and give the Rattlers the first score of the game.
Junior cleanup hitter Gage Mason picked up another hit for San Marcos and stole second base to move into scoring position. Senior infielder Nick Villalobos hit an RBI single in the next at-bat to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
But the Rattlers let off the gas from there, going scoreless the rest of the game. Judson surged ahead to take the 3-2 victory.
“We left it out there. We had our chances,” head coach Bryan Webb said. “We went cold at the plate and you can’t do that in a district ballgame. We had many opportunities to get our guys in.”
The Rockets trimmed down the lead in the third inning, picking up their first run of the game. They reached home plate two more times in the next inning to take the 3-2 lead.
San Marcos loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning, but weren’t able to earn any runs.
“(The Rockets) make some great plays, they do,” Webb said. “We just didn’t have good approaches.”
The Rattlers had one last chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. Freshman infielder Johnny Pardo was the first to reach base with a single. DeLeon launched a line drive to left field for a double, bringing the tying and winning run into scoring position. Miranda was then hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs.
But Judson got the strikeout in the next at-bat to claim the 3-2 win.
San Marcos (5-12 overall, 0-2 district) will look to make adjustments when the team travels to Converse on Friday for its rematch against the Rockets (3-6, 1-1) at 7 p.m. Webb said he hopes his team can respond.
“We’ve seen their best two arms and we’ll kind of see what we’re made of now,” Webb said. “We’re 0-2 and we’re gonna have to find our niche. We’re gonna have to find that lineup and we’re going to have to have some timely hitting."
