San Marcos head coach Bryan Webb believes his team outplayed Schertz Clemens on Friday.
The Rattlers scored three runs early in the game and fended off the Buffaloes for three innings. But Clemens rallied to defeat San Marcos, 5-3.
“We were right there,” Webb said. “We’re right there. We’re right on the verge, right on the edge, and we get right to that tip and we just don’t finish. It’s just kind of been we’re pressing so hard, we’re actually hurting ourselves doing some things. The effort is there. We’re battling. These are good teams. These aren’t slouches we’re playing. Right now, it’s just we’re not getting it done.”
San Marcos (10-15, 2-5 26-6A) used a three-run second inning to grab an early lead over Clemens (10-12-1, 4-3) on Friday.
The Rattlers second inning push began when senior second baseman Ruben Miranda reached base on a throwing error. A walk from sophomore catcher Selvin Anderson gave San Marcos two runners on base. An RBI single from junior right fielder Gage Mason brought home two runs for the Rattlers. San Marcos added another run to go on top 3-0.
But Clemens strung together a strong fourth inning to even the game at 3-3. The Buffaloes grabbed a 4-3 advantage in the sixth inning and added an insurance run in the seventh.
With the Rattlers down to their final out, they received a double from Miranda and walks from senior catcher Colt Ozmen and junior Sean Esquivel to load the bases. But San Marcos couldn’t bring home the game-tying run and fell 5-3.
After going up 3-0 early, Webb said San Marcos needed to come up with much-needed RBIs to extend their lead.
“We’ve just got to go in there and add a run here, a run there, keep the pressure on them,” Webb said. “You know, we can’t put that pressure on our pitchers to sit there and hold ‘em, hold ‘em, hold ‘em and make perfect pitches. Our pitching staff has done a great job. We had a few walks tonight. But we outplayed that team and we let them get out of here with a win. It’s just seems to be our thing right now, we can’t finish.”
San Marcos sits in seventh in the district standings after Friday’s game. With seven games left in district play, the sense of urgency is growing for the Rattlers.
“We ain’t got nothing to lose,” Webb said. “I told them that. We’ve just got to come in here and put one game at a time. Play for the split if you can. If you can win the first one, you play for the sweep. Sometimes we’re just playing ourselves out of innings, playing ourselves out of some wins. The sense of urgency to get back in the playoff race … we’re not out of this by any stretch of the means.”
