Christoval cruises past Hamlin in one-game Region I-2A baseball playoff opener
It’s easy to lose focus in a lopsided game, but Christoval coach Casey Otho keeps his Cougars on their toes.
Even after jumping to a 10-0 lead after two innings against Hamlin, Otho wasn’t happy with some of his team’s play in the field and at the plate.
“They always wonder why I get mad at them when it’s 10-0 (and we’re not doing things right),” Otho said. “We just try to stay in a 0-0 (mindset) every inning. We’ve got to keep playing defense. When we get a chance to make plays, we’ve got to make them. We can't be striking out when we don’t need to. Things like that.”
Yet for the most part, there was little for Otho to be unhappy about in his Cougars’ 21-0 victory over Hamlin in a Region I-2A first-round baseball playoff game at Abilene High's Blackburn Field.
Christoval (11-4) pounded 15 hits and batted around in two innings en route to the five-run mercy-rule victory to win the one-game playoff against the Pied Pipers (6-11).
“That’s how we like it – good pitching and swinging the bat and playing defense behind it,” Otho said.
Coogs’ pitcher Apiatan Salinas was masterful on the mound. He scattered four hits, struck out eight and walked one in the complete-game victory.
“He hasn’t lost this year,” Otho said. “He’s a good one and one of my few seniors.”
This is Christoval’s fifth year to field a baseball program, and it’s the Coogs’ first senior class.
Yet they didn’t play like a young program Thursday – scoring three runs in the first inning before sending 10 batters to the plate in a seven-run second inning.
That was plenty for Salinas, who locked down the Coogs’ first postseason win in program history. They had bowed out in the first round against Forsan the previous two trips. There was no postseason in 2020 because of COVID-19.
“He’s a good pitcher,” Otho said. “He knows what to do and how to take over a game.”
Big day for Coogs' bats
Eight of the Coogs’ nine starters in the lineup had a hit, and they all reached base at least once and scored.
Jake Pfeuffer had two hits, including a double, and four RBIs. Sevastian Salinas, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup, went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, a walk, and his courtesy runner, Dylan McPherson, scored four runs. Riley Workman was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs. Brock Ratliff had a hit and three RBIs, while Cobi Woodfin had a hit, two walks and scored three times.
Kyle Loehman was 2-for-2 with two RBIs, two walks and four runs. Leadoff hitter McCann reached four of five at-bats with two hits, including a triple to start the game, along with an RBI, two walks and two runs.
A.J. Rivera led Hamlin (6-11) with two hits, both singles. He nearly snapped the Coogs’ shutout, too, after getting a one-out single in the fourth and taking second on an error. He took third on Jackson White’s single. However, Rivera was thrown out at the plate trying to steal home when White drew a throw on a stolen base.
It was that kind of day for the Pied Pipers, who had a runner reach on a leadoff error in the second only to see him thrown out trying to steal second – before Cole Claterbough’s single.
Inexperienced Pipers
Still, first-year Hamlin coach Lynn Turner was proud of his team’s growth this season. The Pied Pipers returned only two players from last year’s team.
“Real inexperienced as far as varsity playing,” Turner said. “We didn’t have a lot of guys who played varsity ball, and a lot of guys who hadn’t played (baseball). But we got a lot better at the end of the year. We played Colorado City tough and Forsan the last two games.”
Yet,Turner would have liked a better ending. It’s the second straight year the Pied Pipers have been shutout in the playoff opener. Ozona beat them 11-0 last year.
“This isn’t the way we wanted to end it today,” Turner said. “But you’ve got to give it to (Christoval). They hit the ball. We were throwing OK, but when they hit the ball like that, you have to give credit to them.”
Three Hamlin pitchers combined to give up 10 walks, plus hit two batters – all but two came around to score. Two of those pitchers hadn’t pitched until this season.
Inexperience was a constant theme for the Pied Pipers.
“Some of these guys, they hadn’t played in a couple of years, and they had to play a lot this year,” Turner said. “But they got better, and I was proud of them for that.”
Christoval will play the Anson/Miles winner in the second round next week. Anson, ranked No. 3 in the Texas Association of Baseball Coaches Class 2A state poll, opens the best-of-three series with Miles at 5 p.m. Friday at Abilene Cooper’s Cougar Field. Game 2 is 3 p.m. Saturday at Cooper. If needed, Game 3 would follow.
Joey D. Richards covers Abilene high schools and colleges, Big Country schools and other local sports. Follow him at Twitter at ARN_Joey. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Christoval rips Hamlin in one-game Region I-2A baseball playoff opener
