The Levelland Lobos hosted the San Angelo Lake View Chiefs for a district baseball matchup this past Tuesday night at the Lobo Diamond, losing 13-12 across seven innings.
Levelland led 5-1 after two innings before Lake View would score 11 unanswered runs in the next three frames. The Lobos would respond with a seven-run sixth inning to tie the game, before the Chiefs would score a run in the seventh inning to ultimately win the game.
The close nature of the game is impressive for the Lobos given the fact they committed four more errors than Lake View and were outhit 17-10, yet they still persevered to be in contention for the win.
“Win, lose or draw, we don’t have a choice to quit,” Levelland Head Baseball Coach Chris Portwood said. “Our life is changing daily, good bad and exciting at the same time. We will not see this loss as the finish line. We owe it to the guys before us, to ourselves and the guys behind us to stand this deal back up. We will be present and soak it in, not being afraid because it’s all already written. I’m proud of this group and our community.”
Even in the loss, the Lobos bats were still hot. Standouts at the plate included center fielder Jeron Salinas going 2/2 with three runs-battedin, three walks, a double, a run scored and a stolen base, right fielder Boston Winfield going 2/5 with two RBI’s, two stolen bases and a run scored, second baseman Javier Ruiz going 2/3 with three runs scored and an RBI, catcher RJ Mireles going 1/3 with two RBI’s, a double and a walk, and shortstop Jake Potter going 1/5 with an RBI, a double and a run scored.
Abram Arteaga pitched 4.1 innings while striking out six batters before being relieved by Ian Rivera, who threw 2.2 innings, striking out two batters while holding Lake View to one earned run.
The loss drops the Lobos to 7-10 overall and 0-1 in district play. They’ll be back in action over the weekend against Snyder before hitting the road on Monday to face Estacado at 7 p.m.