Eagles fly past Nixon-Smiley

LULING – A few great things about high school baseball are the chants that the players come up with to boost morale in the dugout. The Luling Eagles have a chant for an occasion when their batter takes a ball that was too high. One player yells, “Leave … the birdies … ALONE!” Then everyone responds, “A-IITE!”

Well, the visiting Nixon-Smiley Mustangs took that advice the wrong way Thursday as they definitely left the birdies alone in a 9-3 loss to the Eagles.

The Eagle defense started strong in the first inning, stranding a Nixon-Smiley runner on base in the Mustang half of the inning before taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the stanza.

Juan Ordonez led off with a hit that was scored as an error on the Mustangs. Ordonez advanced to second base on a passed ball and later made it to third base when Anthony Perales was thrown out by Mustang shortstop Jared Van Auken to first basemen Warren Lopez. Ryan Larison was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners, then Trayden Staton got an RBI base knock to center field to score Ordonez and advance Larison.

However, Larison tried to outrun the throw to third base and was caught for the second out of the inning. Trevor Grabarkawitz chalked up the second RBI single of the inning to score Staton before Bryce Watts flew out to left field to end the inning.

Nixon-Smiley answered with a run in the second frame to cut the deficit to 2-1. Tom Palacio led off with a base on balls. Lopez laid down a picture-perfect bunt that shot past the advancing basemen, which not only advanced Palacio safely to second base, but allowed Lopez to get on first as well. Diego Pompa and Jacob Perez both got on base with walks, overloading the bases to score Palacio.

Eagles pitcher Staton was now faced with a jam with no outs on the board and the bases juiced. Carlos Rodriguez blasted a shot to left field that buoyed Mustang hopes for a grand slam. But the ball drifted far left for a foul ball. Staton and Rodriguez battled at the plate until the count was full before Staton caught Rodriguez looking for a called third strike. The next Nixon-Smiley batter then hit into a double play that Eagle fielders turned for a defensive gem to end the inning.

While the Mustangs failed to score until the final inning, it didn’t stop the Eagles from scoring themselves.

In the fourth frame, Josh Alvarez started the inning with a single, then successfully stole second base before Brian Guerrero reached first base with a walk. A fly ball to center field by Zach Lawton advanced Alvarez to third to put runners at the corners. Ordonez then singled home a run to extend the Eagle lead to 3-1. Perales brought in Guerrero with a sacrifice fly to right field, and Larison singled home Ordonez for the third run of the inning before the Mustangs stopped the bleeding.

Grabarkawitz was the lone score in the fifth inning, scooring on a base hit by Watts for a 6-1 Luling cushion.

The sixth stanza started with an Ordonez base on balls, followed by an RBI double by Perales. Larison walked as well then stole second base before a passed ball scored Perales and advanced Larison to third base. Grabarkawitz recorded his second RBI single of the night for a 9-1 advantage before Nixon-Smiley shut the door on more scoring.

The game looked bleak for the visiting Mustangs with two outs in the seventh inning and eight runs to go to force extra innings. However, Nixon-Smiley did not give up. Darren Kaluza reached base when Eagles third baseman Stanton mishandled an infield hit. Raul Tovar got his first base of the night, and Logan McMain juiced the bases with a walk. Lopez then hit the ball to shortstop, a fielding attempt that was mishandled and resulted in two runs scoring on Luling’s second error of the night and inning.

The Eagles finally killed all hopes for a Nixon-Smiley comeback when Pompa shot the ball back to relief pitcher Perales who threw him out for the final out of the game for a 9-3 verdict.

Nixon-Smiley hosts Karnes City at 4:30 p.m. Thursday before traveling to face Poth Friday for a 7 p.m. clash.

Meanwhile, Luling travels to Hallettsville for a 7 p.m. game Thursday, before hosting Stockdale at 7 p.m. Friday.