JV Lions win two, lose one at Akins Tournament

The Lion JV baseball team faced the Bastrop Bears in the first game of the Akins Tournament last weekend. During the first two innings, the pitchers dominated, shutting down opposing hitters.

Will Clark started the game and threw exceptionally well for the Lions keeping the game close. In the top of the third inning with two outs and no one on base, JD Pardo started

a Lion rally with a single. After Pardo stole second base, Jacob Alvarez put the ball in play to plate the Lions first run.

Bastrop fought back to take the lead at 2-1 going into the top of the seventh inning. The Lions, refusing to lose kept battling. Jonathan Alvarez started off the seventh by reaching on an error and then stole third base. Michael Miller laid down a drag bunt, scoring Alvarez to tie the game. Miller stole second base and scored on a single by Jacob Alvarez, giving Lockhart a 3-2 lead. John Michael Mendez shut down the Bears in the bottom of the seventh to give the Lions the victory.

In the second game of the tournament on Saturday, Lockhart dominated the McCallum Knights 11-5 in just four innings of play. Andrew Laney started the game and picked up the victory and Mendez, the save. The Lions received 12 walks and added four hits to score the 11 runs.

The Lions faced off against Akins in the final game of the tournament, in what proved to be an exciting game but ultimately, the weekend”s only loss for the Lions.

Every starter had a hit for Lockhart during the game. The Lions took the lead early in the game with five hits in a row in the second inning.

Jonathan Alvarez started the two-out rally. Will Clark drove in Alvarez with a deep double to left. Anthony Laney singled in Clark. Mendez knocked in Laney with a double to left. Jacob Alvarez drove in Mendez with a single to center.

The Lions took the lead 4-0. Akins scored one in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 4-1.

Lockhart started the third with three hits in a row. A single by Damian Natal was followed by singles from John Madrigal and Brandon Navarro. An inning-ending double play doused the rally with the Lions only scoring one run.

Akins battled back and took a one run lead on two occasions, but the Lions fought back to tie the score each time. In the end, Akins took the game in the final at bat, scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth inning for a hard fought 9-8 victory.

“I was very proud of our effort and the way that we keep competing no matter what situation we are facing,” Coach James Patton said after the game.

The Lions will travel to New Braunfels Canyon for their final tournament March 11-13, and then open their district season in Manor on March 15. The Lions will host the San Marcos Rattlers on Friday, March 19, 2010, beginning at 7 p.m.
(Courtesy of James Patton)