The Sundown Roughnecks took on the Wellington Skyrockets for their UIL Playoff Area Round where the Roughnecks won in two games.
Sundown 10, Wellington 3
Sundown won the first game of the series 10-3 after a very slow start to the game from both sides.
The first scoring didn’t come until the bottom of the third inning when Jaxon Rodriguez singled on a line drive to left field, scoring one run and giving the Roughnecks the 1-0 lead.
The Roughnecks added onto their lead in the bottom of the fourth after Jayson Martinez singled on a line drive to center field, scoring one run, Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly, scoring one run and Landry Farrar grounded out to third, scoring one run to make the score 4-0.
Wellington finally answered back as they were able to hit a double, scoring one run, a wild pitch scored another run and a ground out scored one more for them to cut the score down 4-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, Sundown was able to explode in offensive production as Caleb Clausen drew a walk, scoring one run, an error scored two runs, Isaac Lopez singled, scoring one run, Rian Rose hit a sacrifice fly, scoring one run and a wild pitch scored another run, making the final score of the game 10-3.
Rayden Flores stared on the mound for the Roughnecks as he gave up three hits and zero runs over one inning, striking out one and walking none.
Rodriguez earned the win for Sundown as he gave up four hits and three runs over six innings, striking out nine and walking two in the game.
Martinez led Sundown with two hits in four at bats. Hunter Clark and Rodriguez were tough to handle back-to-back in the lineup, as each drove in two runs for the Roughnecks. The team had patience throughout the game as they accumulated seven walks for the game. Rodriguez and Coen Nevarez led the team with two free passes each. Sundown ran wild on the bas paths as well as they had four stolen bases in the game. The team turned in one double play on the night. The Roughnecks were also sure-handed as they didn’t commit a single error. Clausen made the most plays with 10.
Sundown 19, Wellington 5
For the second game of the series Sundown dominated the Skyrockets with the final score sitting 19-5 making the Roughnecks the Area Champions.
Sundown was on the board in the top of the first inning after a Baulk by the Skyrockets scored one run, making the score 1-0 early.
Wellington was able to answer back in the bottom of the first inning after a runner scored on a passed ball tying the game up at one apiece.
The Roughnecks were able to retake the lead in a big way in the top of the second inning after they scored six runs on three hits to take a 7-1 lead over the Skyrockets. Two errors scored two runs, Rodriguez hit a triple on a hard ground ball to left field, scoring two runs and Farrar hit a double on a line drive to left field scoring two runs.
The Skyrockets added another run in their bottom of the second inning after their batter hit a single on a fly ball to right field to make the score 7-2.
Wellington was able to scare Sundown as they were able to score three runs on two different errors committed by Sundown to make the score 7-5.
Sundown added onto their lead in the top of the fifth inning after Rodriguez doubled, scoring two runs, Clark singled, scoring two runs and Rian Rose singled, scoring one run to make the score 12-5.
The Roughnecks added onto their lead in the top of the sixth inning after Rodriguez grounded out, scoring one run and Farrar singled on a line drive to right field, scoring one run to make the score 14-5.
Sundown got their final runs in the top of the seventh inning after Clausen doubled on a line drive to right field, scoring two runs, Rodriguez grounded out, scoring one run, a wild pitch scored another run and an error committed by the Skyrockets scored another run making the final 19-5.
Rose earned the win for the Roughnecks as he gave up four hits and five runs (one earned) over four innings, striking out four and walking three.
Lopez appeared in relief for Sundown as he gave up two hits and zero runs over three innings, striking out five and walking four in the game.
Sundown tallied up 15 hits in the game. Martinez led the team with three hits in four at bats. Clausen, Rose, Landry, Farrar and Nevarez each collected multiple hits for the Roughnecks. The team had a strong eye for the plate, tallying up seven walks for the game. Lopez and Clark led the team with two walks each. Clark stole two bases as the team as a whole had five throughout the game.
The Roughnecks improve to 13-11 on the year as they are the Area Champions.
Sundown will take on the New Home Leopards this upcoming Thursday at Frenship High School at 4 p.m. with game two happening 30 minutes after the first game. Game three will be on Friday, May 17 at 2 p.m. if needed.