JV Lions fall to Canyon, pick up big win against Steele

Lions v. Canyon
The JV Lions traveled to New Braunfels Canyon on Monday, April 7 to play their eighth district game. The Lions played a great game, but came up short, falling 4-2 to the Cougars.
Samuel Yanez was the starting pitcher for the Lions. He went three full innings and faced two batters in the bottom of the fourth, giving up four runs (three earned) on s

ix hits and walking only one batter. Ryan Hitter came in as relief in the bottom of the fourth and did a fine job closing the Cougars down. Hitter allowed no runs and one hit in his relief appearance.
“Both Yanez and Hitter did a good job on the hill for the Lions,” Coach James Patton said after the game. “We had a few errors at the wrong time to help Canyon get their runners in scoring position.”
The Lions only had four hits, producing two runs and leaving eight runners stranded on base.
Hitting for the Lions were Hitter (1-3), Joseph Garcia (1-3), Cody James (1-3) and Bryan Mendez (1-3).
Hitter had a shot hit to right center, but Canyon”s center fielder made a great play on it, and Rodriguez hit a line shot to the short stop.
“If these two would have made it, several runs would have been pushed across the plate for the Lions,” Patton said.
Will Rodriguez and Josh Flores crossed the plate for the Lions” two runs.

Lockhart v.
Schertz Steele
The Lions have found themselves falling behind in district play by giving up big innings to their opponents. This week, the Lions turned the tables on the Steele Knights, stacking up a huge inning to earn a 14-12 victory.
After starting the game trailing 4-2 in the first inning and barely keeping up through the fifth, the Lions entered the sixth inning trailing Steele 12-5.
In their last meeting, the Knights defeated the Lions 14-1, and just when it looked as though Steele would put another big loss on Lockhart, the team “made up their minds that they could turn things around if everybody went to the plate and did their job,” Patton said.
The Lions did just that. Lockhart sent 13 batters to the plate and scored nine runs on nine hits, with Steele giving up only one error in the inning.
Every Lion batter got one hit or more, as the Lions scored 14 runs on 16 hits.
George Deleon went 4-3 with two stolen bases and three runs scored. Joseph Garcia was 2-4 with one run and two RBIs. Ryan Hitter went 3-4 with one stolen base, two RBIs and three runs scored. Will Rodriguez was 3-4 with one run scored and two RBIs. Samuel Yanez went 1-3 with one run scored and two RBIs. Brandon Martinez was 1-3 with one run and one RBI. Bryan Mendez was 1-3 with one run and one stolen base. Josh Flores went 3-4 with one run scored and one RBI, and ninth-man hitter Cody James went 1-3 with two runs scored and one stolen base. Tyler Crawford also scored one run.
Hitter started on the hill for the Lions, pitching four innings and giving up five runs, including two earned, six hits, five base-on-balls and five strikeouts. Rodriguez came in at relief in the top of the fifth, and gave up seven runs, three hits, one base-on-ball and two strikeouts. Two hitters were hit by pitches during Rodriguez”s time on the mound, but he did pick up the win with the Lions” big sixth inning.
The Lions will face the Lehman Lobos in Kyle on Friday, April 18.
(Courtesy of James Patton)