Yoemen take down Whitney in regional quaterfinals
The Yoemen are headed for the next round of the playoffs after beating Whitney last week.
Cameron’s next opponent will be the Buna Cougars. Game one is set for Wednesday, May 26, at Don Sanders Stadium at Sam Houston State University at 7 p.m. Games two and three (if needed) will be played at Grand Oaks High School in Spring on Saturday, May 29, game two will start at 3 p.m. and game three would start 30 minutes after that one concludes if needed.
The Cameron Yoemen baseball team began the regional quarterfinal round of the playoffs on Thursday, May 20, at Salado against the Whitney Wildcats.
They were able to win the game 7-6 in amazing walk off fashion.
Brannon McCall (6) started on the mound and a pitched shutout first inning. Tracer Lopez (3) led off the bottom of the first inning for the Yoemen with a triple. He would be sent home on an RBI (Runs batted in) sacrifice fly by Ryan Host (10) for the first run of the game.
The bottom of the first inning ended on a fly out to left field. McCall returned to the mound in top of the second inning and allowed a leadoff double. He then allowed a single but got out of the jam on a double play where it was grounded to McCall. Alertly, he fired the ball home to the catcher, Dillan Akin (4). The runner did not try and score and headed back to third base but was tagged out.
The same thing happened to the runner on second base who tried to go to third base and he was tagged out trying to get back to second base ending the inning.
Adam Cardona (1) came to bat and hit a one out single in the bottom of the second inning. Cameron didn’t take advantage of the hit and failed to score in the inning. Back on the mound, McCall hit a batter in the top of the third inning with two outs. He was still able to escape the inning unharmed as the next Whitney hitter popped out to first base.
Bobby Borgas (7) led off the bottom of the third inning with a single down the left field line. This was followed by a walk for Lopez.
Again, the Yoemen failed bring them home and score in the bottom of the third inning, keeping Camerons lead at 1-0. McCall returned to the mound for the top of the fourth inning and hit a batter with one out.
After giving up a single, he allowed a run to score by giving up a double to tie the game. Cameron then allowed two runs off a bunt single and costly fielding mistakes. The Yoemen then gave up a run off a double for a 4-1 deficit.
The top of the fourth inning finally came to an end on a strikeout. The bottom of the fourth inning rally started with a leadoff double for Marino Cardona (15). Cameron answered back with a timely and incredible RBI inside the park home run for Adam Cardona that was helped with an overthrow at first base, allowing him to head to home plate to cut the deficit to 4-3. That hit was his second out of four hits in the game as well as bringing the team much needed energy.
“He did a great job,” Coach Hector Delgadillo said. “I think he was four for four on the night. Just a great job, good AB’s (At bats), and find a way to get on base. He did a great job to make things work and make things happen.”
They tried to keep the rally going with a two out single for Borgas. The bottom of the fourth inning ended on a pop out with the score still at 4-3. Whtiney, with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, scored a run on a base-stealing attempt as Akin threw the ball past the third baseman, Landon Greene (9).
The top of the fifth inning ended on a pop out to right field leaving the score 5-3. Cameron put together another rally in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two out single by Akin, Armando Reyes (2) came in as the pinch runner for Akin. Marino Cardona followed that up with a single of his own. Reyes came home to score on an RBI single by Adam Cardona for a 5-4 game. Kason Goolsby (14) came in as the pinch runner for Marino Cardona. The bottom of the fifth inning ended on a pop out. Even though they didn’t tie the game or take the lead Coach Delgadillo was proud of his team for not giving up and keeping themselves in the game.
“That was great,” Delgadillo said. “Way to come back and cut the game in half. That’s what we needed, a big inning to come back and keep it close. Really, if we can just keep the game close, it allows us to do certain things offensively, so I was real impressed with our guys.”
To start the sixth inning, Delgadillo made a pitching change. Host came in for McCall. Delgadillo was very pleased with his pitchers as McCall was able to hold it together near the end of his outing and Host kept his team in the game late giving up just one run in two innings.
“I was real impressed,” Delgadillo said. “We got a lot of confidence in who we put in there, and that’s just a key. We get in there and have somebody throw strikes and let our defense play. Brannon didn’t have his best stuff but he competed through five or six (innings) and Host came in and did a great job. That’s what we ask of our guys.”
With Host on the mound, he allowed a leadoff walk. This was followed by a fielder’s choice groundout to get the first out of the inning. The Whitney runner eventually stole second base then advanced to third base.
The Yoemen then gave up a run on a sacrifice fly for a 6-4 deficit. The top of the sixth inning ended on a groundout to first. Cameron started the bottom of the sixth inning with a leadoff single by Jaidyn Sanchez (11). He advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Borgas. That was followed with a walk for Lopez.
Cameron couldn’t bring them home to score as the bottom of the sixth inning ended on a groundout. Host kept his team alive as he pitched a clean seventh inning. The miracle bottom of the seventh inning rally started with leadoff walks by Akin and Marino Cardona. Adam Cardona also reached base on a bunt single to load the bases. Akin came home on a towering RBI sacrifice fly for McCall that went all the way to deep centerfield for a 6-5 game. Sanchez then came up clutch with a big RBI single to tie the game at six. Borgas became the hero of the night with a walk off safety squeeze bunt to complete the thrilling comeback win 7-6.
“That’s something that we work on and stress a lot,” Delgadillo said. “When we get down, we got to be able to bunt. We have to be able to do small ball things and do the little things right and that was it. Bobby came in and Jaidyn had the hit. Everybody that came in that inning got a guy on base and was able to execute at the plate.”
As great of a victory as that was, the Yoemen still had to finish the job the next day as they travel to Whitney to face the Wildcats on their turf.
Cameron was able to close out the series as they defeated the Wildcats 6-4 in thrilling fashion.
Cameron started the top of the first inning on offense and couldn’t score. Greene (9) got the start as the pitcher and pitched a clean first inning. Adam Cardona (1) reached first base in the top of the second inning with a one out walk. Sadly, he was caught stealing second base. The top of the second inning ended in a strikeout. Greene returned to the mound for the bottom of the third inning and allowed a leadoff walk.
The Yoemen were not affected by the walk as the bottom of the second inning ended with the help of a double play. The top of the third inning was one to forget for Cameron as they were unable to score. Greene came back to pitch in the bottom of the third inning and allowed a leadoff single. Greene got the runner out at third base on a failed sacrifice bunt attempt and a great throw by Greene to third base.
The bottom of the third inning ended with Greene striking out a Whitney batter. Host (10) came to bat the top of the fourth inning and was hit by a pitch. That was followed up with a double by Greene. Host came home on a fielding error by the shortstop for the first run of the game and allowed Marino Cardona (15) to reach first base. A walk for McCall (6) would load the bases for the Yoemen.
Cameron scored again off a bases loaded walk by Sanchez for the second run of the inning. The top of the fourth inning ended on a strikeout leaving the score 2-0. Greene allowed a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth inning. He caught the runner out at third base on a failed base stealing attempt. The bottom of the fourth inning ended on a groundout to second base. Lopez (3) led off the top of the fifth inning with a triple.
Host would then be hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. They would both round the bases and score on a clutch two RBI double by Greene for a 4-0 lead. Reyes (2) came in as the pinch runner for Greene. Cameron would keep the momentum up with a walk for Akin (4), Goolsby (14) came in as the pinch runner for Akin. Both runners advanced a base with a double steal. Reyes headed home off a balk for a 5-0 lead. That would be followed with a walk for Marino Cardona. Goolsby came home off a failed pickoff attempt for a 6-0 Cameron lead.
The top of the fifth inning ended on a groundout. Greene returned to the mound for the bottom of the fifth inning and allowed a leadoff walk. The Yoemen allowed a runner on base with a fielding error. Greene then allowed a single to load the bases. The Yoemen gave up two runs on another single to make the score 6-2.
Greene then allowed a walk to load the bases. They would give up a bases clearing double for a 6-4 game, was also able to get the second out of the inning as the left fielder, Borgas (7), was able to throw a strike to home plate throw out a runner heading home. Greene then allowed another walk.
It was then that Delgadillo made a pitching change. Lopez came in for Greene. Lopez got the final out of the bottom of the fifth inning on a strikeout. Host tried for some two out magic in the top of the sixth inning and reached first base on a fielding error. This was followed up with a single by Greene.
They couldn’t score as top of the sixth inning ended on a swinging strikeout. Lopez came back to the mound and pitched a quick, shutout sixth inning. Adam Cardona reached first base in the top of the seventh inning on a fielding error. McCall was able to reach first base on a fielder’s choice. He advanced to second base from a failed pickoff attempt at first base.
Sanchez would then be hit by a pitch. McCall would score an insurance run on an RBI single by Borgas for a 7-4 lead. The top of the seventh inning ended on a strikeout. Lopez came back on the mound for the bottom of the seventh inning and allowed a two out double and then a base runner on an error. He gave up a run on a single for a 7-5 game. Cameron finished the game on a groundout to third base to seal the exciting 7-5 win and the series sweep.