The Levelland Lobos baseball team hosted Dumas for their regular season opener this past Monday night, falling to them, 10-9.
The Lobos faced immense adversity early on, trailing 9-1 after four innings, but they would respond by outscoring Dumas 8-1 in the final three frames, nearly completing the comeback.
“The kids played really hard and stayed up all game,” Levelland Head Baseball Coach Chris Portwood said. “Some mental mistakes put us in a hole early, but I’m really proud of the way my guys battled back to get in a good position to win. We just fell short. Lots of growth came from this game, too bad you can’t win them all. Baseball is the hardest game there is; it hurts the ones you love and never forgives, but that’s why we play. I love my group and WIT (Whatever It Takes).”
Regardless of the result, it was a heck of a performance from the Lobos offense to post 17 hits, besting Dumas’ 13, and a nice rebound by the pitching staff to weather the storm after a tough start.
The Lobos offense was led by Abram Arteaga who went 3/3 at the plate with two doubles, a run-batted-in and a walk, followed by Jeron Salinas who went 2/3 with three RBI’s and a triple, Javier Ruiz who went 2/3 with two RBI’s and two stolen bases, Boston Winfield who went ¾ with a double and a stolen base, Tobias Gavina who went ¾ with a stolen base and Kai Martinez who went 2/4 with two RBI’s and a stolen base.
On the mound, Abram Arteaga led the way, pitching four innings and striking out five batters, while only surrendering one earned run, six hits and three walks.
The loss drops the Lobos to 0-1 overall to start the season, and while it’s not ideal, they can walk away with a lot of confidence and lessons learned from their performance.
They’ll be back in action over the weekend as they play host for the Railyard Classic, where they’ll face Hereford, Iowa Park, Lamesa, Denver City and Trinity Christian.
Then they’ll host Shallowater on Monday at 6:30 p.m. for a regular matchup.