The Morton Indians hosted the Sundown Roughnecks for a district baseball matchup this past Tuesday, resulting in Morton securing a 13-3 victory across six innings.
The game was closely contested for its majority as the teams were tied 3-3 in the top of the fourth inning before the Indians would score 10 unanswered runs to secure the win.
Morton and Sundown both recorded 10 hits and two errors, with the ultimate difference being the walks category, which the Indians won 12-1.
“Our young guys are settling in,” Indians Head Baseball Coach Jared Thomas said. “I think we finally got comfortable at the plate and that showed late in the game. We were very selective, and that’s something we preach. We don’t like chasing pitches, so we executed that well.”
That approach at the plate led to several great individual performances for the Indians, including first baseman Britton Boggs going 3/3 with three runs scored, two walks, an RBI and a stolen base, and shortstop Brayden Villareal going ¾ with two RBI’s, two runs scored, two stolen bases and a double.
Others included EJ Rivas going ½ with three walks, three runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base, designated hitter Aidyn Ramirez going ½ with two walks, an RBI and a run scored, second baseman Masyn Enriquez going 1/3 with an RBI, a walk and a run scored, and left fielder Matthew Rodriguez going ½ with an RBI, a walk and a run scored.
Rivas also handled the pitching duties, tossing all six innings and striking out five batters while only surrendering three earned runs.
The win improves the Indians to 2-8 overall and 2-1 in district play, while the loss drops the Roughnecks to 5-7 overall and 1-2 in district play.
The Roughnecks battled for the win in the game, but it got away from them at the tail end, which Sundown Head Baseball Coach Matthew Schovajsa reflected on. “I thought we competed really well. We are struggling a little bit to finish games and that’s how it ended. We’ve just got to close them out,” Coach Schovajsa said.
Several individual Roughneck performances aligned with coach’s view of their competitiveness, including catcher Joey Lopez going 2/3 with an RBI, a double, a stolen base and a run scored, and Rian Rose going 2/2 with a double.
Other standouts included left fielder Gordon Mata going 2/3 with a double, designated hitter Mark Campos going 1/3 with an RBI, shortstop Ryland Baldwin going ½ with an RBI, and right fielder Ryan Pope going 1/1 with a walk, a run scored and a stolen base.
On the mound, Rose, Lopez and Baldwin split the duties. Rose pitched four innings and struck out five batters; Lopez pitched 1.2 innings and struck out two batters; and Baldwin pitched in the sixth inning.
Following the game, the teams are set to meet again over the weekend for the second game of the series.