Ropes baseball run-ruled Tahoka to clinch the 2A District 4 Co-Championship this past Friday at Ropes High School. The Eagles finished the game 16-4, securing an early victory in the fifth inning.
The first inning was a slow start, with both teams remaining scoreless. Batters made it on base, but neither team could score.
Ropes ended their early drought in the second inning, batting in six runs, while keeping Tahoka with zero in the second inning.
It wasn’t until the third inning that Tahoka put themselves on the board and matched Ropes with a mutual three runs. Although Tahoka was on the board, the Eagles still led 9-3.
In the fourth inning, Ropes almost doubled their score, batting in seven runs compared to Tahoka’s zero. The Eagles were within range of run-ruling Tahoka if they didn’t bring the score within 10 runs as the Eagles led 163.
Tahoka needed four runs in the fifth inning to remain in the game against Ropes. The Eagles brought out a new pitcher, and Tahoka had batters on base, but Tahoka batting in one run wasn’t enough, ending the game by run-rule.
With Ropes’ victory, the team clinched the district title, and did so with a large lead and notable stats across the board.
The Eagles had a team batting average of .455, and senior catcher Brayden Hogg had a batting average of 1.000, with three runs scored and two RBI’s. Senior shortstop Ryland Keith had two runs and four RBI’s.
Three additional Ropes players had two or more runs. Senior second baseman Radley Pardington had three runs, and junior center fielder Jaivyth Cruz, senior first baseman Elijah Flores, junior left fielder Briggs Bourne, and senior second baseman Stetson haden all had two runs. Senior pitcher Kade Franklin had an OBP of .500.
The team had eight walks on the day and had one team error. On the pitching side, senior Cutter Stumbo finished the day with 75 pitches, allowing three runs on one walk and four hits.
With the win against Tahoka, Ropes improved their record to 23-5 and their district record to 13-1.
With the Co-District title clinched and the playoffs around the corner, Head Coach Nathan Flores speaks about the mentality the team needs to make a deep playoff run.
“I’ve told the boys since the beginning of the year that in order for us to do the things that we know that we can, we have to just be good teammates,” Flores said. “We have to make sure we are there for each other when things get rough, because we are going to encounter adversity.”
Ropes will play their first playoff match-up in a doubleheader versus Sudan today in Lockney. Game one is at 6 p.m., game two is to follow and game three is to be determined if necessary.