Yoemen move to top of district standings with wins
The Cameron Yoemen baseball team hosted the Rockdale Tigers on Friday. The Yoemen were dominant, winning 15-3 in five innings due to the ten run rule.
Rockdale jumped on Cameron early in the top of the first inning and took a 3-0 lead. The Yoemen responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the first inning. The runs for Cameron came off a two run double by Dillan Akin and two singles by Kason Goolsby and Zay Gillmon.
“I just told the kids to trust the process and stay locked in,” Coach Nick De La Cerda said. “That’s one of our mantras is to stay locked in the whole game. Giving up three runs in the first inning, sometimes kids want to back down and pout about it, but they stayed strong and answered with a four run inning, then after that, put up zeroes the rest of the way. So, I was really proud of that.”
The Yoemen dramatically increased their lead when they scored nine runs in the fourth inning to activate the ten run rule. The Cameron batters contributing to the big inning included Dillan Akin, Zay Gillmon, Vaughn Kostroun, Ryan Host, Landen Greene, and Marino Cardona, all driving in runs in the inning. Cameron tallied 13 total hits on the day. Marino Cardona, Ryan Host, Dillan Akin, and Zay Gillmon each racked up multiple hits for the Yoemen.
“We just preach attack and attack fastballs, be a good two strike hitting team, shorten up, put the ball in play,” Coach Nick De La Cerda said. “We know if we put the ball in play, they got to do multiple things right for them to get us out. We work on it every day just putting the ball in play.”
Yovanni Cerros was the winning pitcher for Cameron. The lefty allowed two hits and three runs over five innings, striking out eight.
“Sometimes the nerves get to him,” De La Cerda said. “Once he settles down, and he starts to understand I don’t have to strike everybody out. I can just let them put the ball in play and the defense is going to play behind him, he got comfortable. He was able to finish out the game, and he only gave up two hits.”
The next day, the Yoemen hosted the Bosqueville Bulldogs. The Yoemen were victorious and defeated the Bulldogs 9-1 on Saturday. Cameron got their offense started in the first inning and took a 1-0 lead. Dillan Akin hit a sacrifice fly to bring Braylan Drake home, scoring the first run of the game.
The Yoemen pulled away for good with five runs in the fourth inning. Zay Gillmon, Vaughn Kostroun, Braylan Drake, and Ryan Host all moved runners across the plate with RBIs in the inning. Cameron added on in the sixth inning with another three runs to go up on Bosqueville 9-1. Those runs were earned on a single by Landen Greene, a bases loaded walk by Zay Gillmon, and Vaughn Kostroun driving in a run on a fielders choice groundout.
Cameron totaled ten hits in the game. Kason Goolsby, Ryan Host, and Landen Greene all had multiple hits for the Yoemen. The Yoemen defense was also sure-handed in the field and didn’t commit a single error in the game. Ryan Host was the winning pitcher for Cameron. He went all seven innings, allowing one run on five hits and striking out five.
With this victory, Cameron has an overall record of 14-6 and a district record of 5-1. Up next for the Yoemen was a road game against the Troy Trojans. The Yoemen defeated Troy in an eight inning thriller 4-3.
Troy got things started in the first inning and took a 2-0 lead. Cameron responded with a run in the second inning when Mason Kuzel singled on a line drive to left field, driving in a run. Cameron would take the lead on a line drive single by Braylon Drake to make the score 3-2. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Trojans tied things up at three which eventually led to extra innings. The game was still tied at three with Cameron batting in the top of the eighth when Vaughn Kostroun drew a bases loaded walk, scoring the game winning run.
Cameron tallied six hits in the game. Braylon Drake and Dillan Akin both managed multiple hits for the Yoemen. Landen Greene started the game on the mound for Cameron. He lasted six innings, allowing five hits and three runs while striking out six. Armando Reyes pitched two innings in relief and took the win for Cameron. He surrendered zero runs on one hit over two innings, striking out two and walking zero.
With this victory, Cameron is in sole possession of first place in the district standings with a district record of 6-1 and an overall record of 15-6.
Up next for the Yoemen will be a home game against the Rogers Eagles. The game will be on Thursday and first pitch is set for 7 p.m.