JV Lions fail to rein in Unicorns, fall 15-1

By Alonzo Garza
POST-REGISTER

The Junior Varsity Lions were dealt a serious loss at Lion Field on Monday, April 21, when the New Braunfels Unicorns ran away with a 15-1 victory in five innings.
Lockhart split games earlier in the week, beating Lehman 13-4 on Friday, April 18 and losing to Clemens 5-0.

Lions vs.
New Braunfels
New Braunfe

ls came out swinging and hitting, scoring seven runs their first time out on the field. The Unicorns scored another two runs in the second and a three run hit out to left field at the top of the third gave them a 12-0 lead over Lockhart.
Despite their efforts, the Lions never recovered. They seemed to be shell-shocked after the seven runs in the first inning. A single Lion run made it to the scoreboard at the bottom of the third. It was the only run of the night for the Lions.
It was not until the top of the fourth that Lockhart put a stop to the Unicorn runs. Both teams remained scoreless in the fourth.
The Unicorns put three more runs on the board at the top of the fifth before ending the game by striking out the Lions one after another.
Too many errors and not enough hits were the main reasons for the Lion loss.

Lions vs. Lehman
The Lions started out slow against the Lobos, falling behind 3-0 by the end of the second inning. They bounced back in the third by sending eight Lion batters to the plate and tacking on three runs of their own for a tie.
The Lions warmed up enough to start hitting effectively and scoring runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings.
Leading the offensive attack on the Lobos were Will Rodriguez, who was 3-5 with three RBIs and a run, Ryan Hitter was 3-5 with three runs and two RBIs, Joseph Garcia was 2-5 with two runs, one RBI and a stolen base and Josh Flores was 2-5 with one run and two RBIs.
George Deleon was 1-2 with one run, Travis Crawford was 1-1 with two runs, one RBI and one stolen base, Bryan Mendez was 1-3 with one RBI, Tim Howard was 1-2 with one run, Brandon Martinez was 1-3, Samuel Yanez scored two runs and Cody James had one RBI.
Yanez got the nod on the hill and did a great job giving up three runs on three hits, walked four Lobo batters and struck out two. Crawford came in to finish up for Yanez and also did a good job allowing three hits and one run. Yanez picked up the win for the Lions.
“All 12 players on this JV team contributed to this win in one way or another,” coach James Patton said. “With the loss of several JV players and the Freshman team not having games with three district schools because they do not have a team, we had a chance to bring up two freshman players to help out and fill in some spots. Both Brandon Martinez and George Deleon have answered the call and have produced and worked well with the other players.”

Lions vs. Clemens
The Clemens Buffaloes traveled to Lockhart on Monday and completely dominated the game from beginning to end. The Lions lost 5-0. It was a tough loss for the Lions after having won 6-2 in an early season game against the Buffaloes.
Lockhart did a good job defensively. It was the Lion offense, which was affected adversely by the excellent Buffalo pitchers. One young man pitched a three hit shut out at the stunned Lions.
“Their pitcher had two strikes, two base on balls, two hit batsmen, and gave up only three hits,” Patton said. “Our kids either hit right at them or hit pop flies.”
Garcia started on the mound and gave up nine hits, five runs, walked two and struck out two. Deleon came in to relieve Garcia in the top of the sixth. Deleon gave up only one hit and no runs in his relief effort. Garcia was given the loss.
The only Lion hits at the plate came from Flores, who was 1-3, James was 1-3 and Howard, 1-3.
The JV Lions will play their final game of the season against the Del Valle Cardinals at Del Valle on Friday, April 25. Check next week’s Post-Register for highlights and the score.
See you at the game.
agarza@post-register