London's three-run inning enough to upend Odem in UIL baseball playoffs
ROBSTOWN — The London baseball team knows to repeat as regional champions they have to find a way to overcome adversity. And in the last few weeks, the Pirates have seen plenty of it.
They entered playoffs having lost five consecutive games and on Saturday in a Class 3A bi-district one-game playoff against Odem, the Owls struck early setting the Pirates back on their heels.
But London found some timely hits in the fourth inning, and took advantage of a rare Odem mistake to earn a 3-2 victory and survive the one-game playoff to keep its season alive.
"It was just having confidence," said freshman R.J. Olivares, who was 2 for 3 on the day and drove in the game-tying run. "Coaches keep on stressing confidence and timely hits and we did that today. It was just trying to hit, find the bats and we did that."
London co-head coach Albert Amaya said they changed the lineup to see if that could be a spark as Mason Arispe moved back into the leadoff position. He finished 2 for 3 with two stolen bases, but the key Amaya said was staying positive.
"It was just keep throwing strikes, make the routine play and just try to grind for that one run we needed," Amaya said. "That's what we were trying to do, trying to manufacture a run and trying to stay positive."
The Pirates advance to the area round where they will take on either Edinburg IDEA Quest or Brownsville Jubilee at a time, date and place to be determined.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
CLASS 3A BI-DISTRICT
LONDON 3, ODEM 2
Odem vs. London: Saturday's highlights
The Owls broke the ice early when Kyle Castaneda led off the game with a single off Pirates ace Kade Budd, and then after a one-out walk, Elijah Pizana hit a two-run double for a 2-0 lead. Odem held that lead until the fourth, when London found some offense. Jayden Martinez led off the inning with a single, and Landon Salinas followed with a run-scoring double. One batter later, freshman R.J. Olivares singled to score Salinas and tie the game. Olivares later scored on a wild pitch for a 3-2 London lead. Blayne Lyne came out of the bullpen to throw three scoreless innings to close out the game.
Saturday's stars
Arispe finished the day 2 for 3 with two stolen bases, as Salinas was 1 for 2 with a run and an RBI. Olivares finished 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run. Lyne earned the three-inning save, giving up two hits with four strikeouts and a walk as Budd earned the win. Castaneda finished the day 2 for 4 with a run for the Owls, and Pizana was 1 for 3 with an RBI.
They said it
London co-head coach Albert Amaya on the key in staying positive through a recent losing streak: "What we did today, we kind of mixed up the lineup a little bit and went back to an old lineup that we've had success with, changed our leadoff hitter and moved guys around just to try something different. I think that worked for the most part today."
Odem coach Jason Pfluger on the good start: "That was huge. We wanted to score runs early, we were the visiting team and thought if we could score early we could put a little pressure on those guys it could work to our advantage. We had some chances there in the second inning and it didn't quite it work out, we feel like if we could've scored a couple of runs there it would've been a whole different ball game. Those guys fought back, that's a heck of a team over there."
Len Hayward is a USA Today Sports Network Region sports director and the Caller-Times sports editor. Support more coverage like this by checking out our subscription options and special offers at Caller.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: London Pirates top Odem Owls 3-2 in high school baseball playoffs
