Gruver gets revenge against Sunray with wild walk-off win Friday afternoon
GRUVER — Gruver baseball coach Khris Kelp said after Friday's game against Sunray that there's about 27 ways you can score from third base.
After a back-and-forth contest in which the Greyhounds led by three, and trailed by two before tying it up in the sixth inning, Caden Armes may have discovered a 28th in a District 1-2A contest.
After recording a single in the seventh and advancing to second, Armes made it to third on a passed ball when disaster struck for Sunray.
Catcher Ivan Delarosa attempted to throw to second to catch a runner stealing, but he overthrew his target, which allowed Armes time to run home where he was greeted by a swarm of Greyhounds as he delivered a 7-6 walk-off win for Gruver.
It was a nice revenge game for the Hounds (8-3, 5-0) over the Bobcats (12-4, 5-1 overall). The two district rivals split the series last year, Sunray took a 15-6 victory in the first matchup during a tournament earlier in the season.
The Bobcats looked like they were heading for another win entering the bottom of the sixth, holding a 6-4 lead since the third. Jefferson Weaver changed that with a two-run home run to score himself and Briggs Satterfield to tie the game in the sixth.
"They just fight," Kelp said of his squad. "That's all I've asked them to do all-year long is just to be tough and keep fighting and fighting. You're never out of a ball game as long as there's an out hanging out there. That's our mentality, and we've had some success with it."
It also helps when you get young players that know how to make heads-up plays in the right moment. Armes credits his walk-off run to just taking advantage of the situation.
"I was just hoping something good happens for us," he said. "They made a bad throw, and we capitalized on it."
Early on it didn't look like there would be much drama.
Weaver hit a two-run RBI double in the bottom of the first to score Satterfield and Sutton Ward to make it 2-0 before Juan Terrazas singled to score Weaver and make it 3-0. Sunray cut into that deficit in a hurry as Azriel Vargas hit a two-run RBI single to score Arnold Mendoza and Uriel Ortiz in the top of the second to shrink the margin to 3-2.
Gruver grew its advantage back to two in the bottom of the second when Terrazas was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Sunray responded in the third when Zahir Loya scored on a wild pitch to pull within one. Eric Mendoza scored on a wild pitch in the next at bat to tie the game at 4-4 before Vargas tallied a two-RBI single to put the Bobcats up 6-4.
The score remained that way until Weaver's bomb and Armes locked it up with the run.
It was a great day at the plate for Weaver as he went 2-for-4 with four RBI and two runs. Satterfield ended with a 2-for-4 day and Armes went 2-for-4. Though Weaver surrendered six earned runs on six hits through six innings, he also struck out 11 batters.
Vargas was finished game going 3-for-4 with four RBI. It wasn't enough to make up for five errors on the field, however.
"We just didn't have our best day today," Sunray coach Chuck Graves said. "(We just have) to keep playing. They're capable of beating any team we play, we just didn't play our best game today and made too many mental mistakes."
District 1-2A baseball
Gruver 7, Sunray 6
Sunray 014 000 0— 6 7 5
Gruver 310 002 1 — 7 11 2
Sunray- Parker Johnson, Azriel Vargas (6th inning) and Ivan Delarosa. Jefferson Weaver, Briggs Satterfield (7th inning) and Brock Butler. W — Satterfield (N/A). L — Vargas (2-3). 2B — Sunray, 1 (Uriel Ortiz). Gruver, 1 (Jefferson Weaver. 3B — Sunray, 1 (Arnold Mendoza). Gruver, 0. HR — Sunray, 0. Gruver, 1 (Weaver).
Records: Sunray 12-4, 5-1, Gruver 8-3, 5-0.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Gruver gets revenge against Sunray with wild walk-off win Friday afternoon
