The Levelland Lobos baseball team travelled to Amarillo to compete in the Randy Keller Memorial Tournament this past Thursday and Friday, going 2-2 across four games against elite competition.
The Lobos kicked off play against Randall, losing 7-6 in a nail-biter. Levelland trailed 5-0 after the second inning and responded by tying the game up on two different occasions after Randall scored again.
Levelland would actually put themselves in position to not only tie but also win the game, but they were unable to capitalize.
Standouts at the plate against Randall included Javier Ruiz going 2/3 with a stolen base, Jake Potter going ½ with two runs-battedin and a run scored, Abram Arteaga with two walks, an RBI and a run scored, and Boston Winfield going 1/3 with an RBI.
On the mound against Randall, Ruiz and Ian Rivera split the workload, with Ruiz allowing four earned runs and three hits while recording a strikeout, and Rivera allowing two earned runs and five hits while recording a strikeout.
In their second game, the Lobos dropped another close one to Tascosa, 5-4. The teams were tied 2-2 after the third inning, before Tascosa outscored Levelland by one in the next three frames to secure the win.
Standouts at the plate against Tascosa included Ruiz going 2/3 with two runs scored, a double, an RBI and a stolen base, Arteaga going ½ with an RBI, a double, a stolen base and a walk, Win- field going 1/3 with a triple, Kade Pemberton going ½ with a walk and Jeron Salinas going 1/3 with a run scored.
On the mound against Tascosa, Arteaga pitched the full six innings, holding Tascosa to four earned runs and eight hits while striking out four batters.
In their third matchup, Levelland would dominate Ysleta, 9-3, not allowing them on the board until the seventh and final inning.
The win was powered by a fantastic outing by Win- field, holding Ysleta to three earned runs on 11 hits while striking out two batters, working around traffic on the bases. Shoutout to the Lobos’ defense backing him strongly as well, only committing a single error.
Standouts at the plate against Yselta included Salinas going 2/4 with two RBI’s, a triple, a stolen base and a run scored, Ruiz going 2/4 with two RBI’s, two doubles, two stolen bases and a run scored, RJ Mireles going 1/3 with a walk and Tobias Gavina going 1/3 with an RBI and a run scored.
The Lobos would cap off the tournament with backto- back wins by beating Pampa 12-6, powered by 11 team hits and a good outing on the mound from Potter.
Potter threw the whole game, holding Pampa to six earned runs on eight hits while striking out four batters.
Standouts at the plate against Pampa included Rivera going ½ with three RBI’s, Potter going ½ with two RBI’s and a triple, Mireles going 2/2 with a double, an RBI and a walk, Salinas going 1/4 with four stolen bases, three runs scored, an RBI and a double, and Arteaga going 1/3 with three runs scored, a triple, an RBI and a walk.
The win concluded the Lobos tournament record at 2-2 and moves their record to 7-9 overall this season, and following it, Levelland Head Baseball Coach Chris Portwood gave his thoughts on how his guys performed.
“I was really proud of my guys. There’s only 12 of them and we played two teams that had an army. These guys are like the Marines, and they’re in the trenches fighting for it. It was really good to see the leadership come out of them,” Coach Portwood said. “It’s good to see their competitiveness and I’m just proud of the way that they battle. We’re always going to have things to work on and we’re never going to be satisfied, but I really enjoy this group. They’re trying to be professional about the way that they work, prepare and recover. They do their best, and we just hold fast to our faith and what we stand for.”
Coach Portwood would also go on to express how great of a preparation tool that playing these elite teams in the tournament was for district play, which is up next.
The Lobos play host for two district games this week, starting with Lakeview early in the week and Snyder on Friday at 7 p.m.