The Sundown Roughnecks and Ropes Eagles faced off last Friday in a district rivalry game at Sundown High School, with the Eagles taking the early victory in the fifth inning.
The game started fast for the Eagles, who scored five runs in the first inning. The second inning ended without runs from either team, keeping the score 5-0, Eagles.
During the third inning, Ropes continued their momentum, batting in six runs, increasing their lead by 11. The Roughnecks struggled to keep up as they couldn’t find their groove against the Eagles, leaving Ropes with a chance to end the game early by run-rule.
After the fourth inning, Sundown remained without runs and allowed Ropes to bat in one more run. Into the fifth inning, both teams batted in zero runs, ending the game 12-0 for Ropes, defeating their district rival on the road.
The Eagles had many players with notable performances, including pitcher Maddux Sierra, second baseman Radley Pardington, and right fielder Cason Kucel all of whom finished the game with two RBI’s in their victory against Sundown.
Many Ropes batters finished with one RBI, including shortstop Ryland Kieth, third baseman Kade Franklin, first baseman Elijah Flores and catcher Brayden Hogg.
Pitchers Maddux Sierra and Zach Ramirez concluded their day with three strikeouts each. Sierra also had the most hits with a total of three on the day. Eagles baseball had a total of 16 hits on the ball, 10 RBI’s, and four walks.
Center fielder Jaivyth Cruz, second baseman Stetson Haden, Ryland Keith and Elijah Flores were all among those who got on base by walks.
Sundown pitcher Cooper Day only allowed one run on the day, and pitcher Rian Rose had one strikeout.
Despite the loss, Coach Matthew Shovajsa, head coach of Roughnecks Baseball, believes it’s always a learning process, win or lose.
“I want us to learn and continue to get better and not get frustrated,” Shovajsa said. “We in the last two weeks got to play a couple of the best teams in the state… we’ve got a big stretch of three series coming up to try and make playoffs. And I think we’re better for it.”
Coach Nathan Flores, the head baseball coach for Ropes, emphasizes the training required to perform as they did.
“We have to respect the game. We have to be good teammates, and we have to take care of all the little things,” Flores said. “And I tell the guys, as long as they’re doing their job, even if mistakes happen, there’s nothing that this team can’t overcome.”
Sundown and Ropes will both be back early in the week. Ropes will play at Morton, and Sundown will host Smyer.