Randall’s Jake Scott (11) is greeted by teammates after hitting a two-run home run in a 16-9 victory over Amarillo High is a District 3-5A game at Randall on Saturday. [Ben Jenkins/ Press Pass Sports]
By Lee Passmore
In a span of 24 hours, the Randall Raiders definitely left their mark on the rest of District 3-5A.
Carrying the momentum of a five-game win streak into their Battle of Bell rivalry series with Amarillo High on Friday and Saturday, the Raiders left no doubt over who the team to beat in district is now. Randall hammered Amarillo High pitching over two days, culminating with Saturday’s 16-9 victory at Randall which kept the Raiders atop the district with a one-game lead over Plainview.
Coupled with Friday’s 14-3 win over Amarillo High at Sandie Field in which they scored 11 runs over the last two innings, the Raiders (16-7, 8-1 in district) are easily the hottest team in 3-5A, having won seven straight games. The two wins over Amarillo High (12-8, 5-4) couldn’t have gone any better had they scripted them.
“When you look at that team and that program and what they did last year, they’ve got a ton of tradition over there (at Amarillo High) and when you can get two wins from those guys on consecutive days that’s a big deal,” Randall coach Cory Hamilton said.
In two days, the Raiders scored 30 runs and pounded out 29 hits against the Sandies. Saturday they had 16 hits, as every Randall starter had at least one hit.
This came after a less than stellar start for the Raiders in the second game. Amarillo High’s Will Franklin hit a towering three-run home run to left off Randall starter Andrew Ramos in the top of the first. In the bottom of the inning, the Raiders left two runners on base.
After that, though, it was all Randall, as the Raiders dealt with the battle of attrition on a typically windy day at their home field.
“Today it wasn’t a whole lot of fun to pitch, just with the wind the way it was,” Hamilton said. “It was a good day to be home if you can keep momentum on your side. Andrew Ramos is a really good pitcher. He’s been a competitor all year and doesn’t play like sophomore.”
Ramos gave up a run in the top of the second as the Sandies went up 4-0, but he grabbed control of the game when he went to the plate in the bottom of the second.
With two on and one out, Ramos lined a double to left off Amarillo High starter Sawyer Shipman to get the Raiders on the board and cut the lead to 4-2. Thanks to two errors and a single by Payton Bush, they tied it 4-4 at the end of the inning.
Randall took the lead for good in the bottom of the third thanks again to Ramos, who hit another two-run double, as the Raiders led 7-4 at the end of the inning.
“I knew my teammates were behind me the whole time, so I do what I could do to help those guys out and they help me out,” said Ramos, who pitched four innings for the victory. “All of our lineup are basically four holes because we can mash balls one through nine.”
Amarillo High cut it to 7-6 in the top of the fourth, but Randall grabbed momentum back with five runs in the bottom of the inning off Amarillo High reliever Cotton Davis. Ramos had a sacrifice fly and Jake Scott capped the inning with a two-run homer to make it 12-6, as Amarillo High was unable to get any closer than five runs after that.
While the Raiders had stellar games hitting the ball, the Sandies didn’t help themselves at times over two days. They committed seven errors, and gave up five unearned runs and seven walks Saturday.
“(The Raiders) got twice as many hits as we did today and when you make errors that’s never going to be good,” AHS coach Randon Johnson said. “When you mix in a really good baseball team that’s where you get the result we got the last two days. It felt like every time we kind of clawed back there were maybe a couple of walks and a misplay or an error, those kinds of things open the gate back up. Hats off to Randall, they did a better job than we did.”
Scott had two hits and drove in three runs for Randall, while Taylor McDaniel had three hits and drove in three runs and A.J. Lucero had two hits and drove in two runs. Franklin stayed hot at the plate for the Sandies with two hits and three RBIs and Hadley Cox had two hits and scored three runs.
Bush pitched the last three innings to earn the save for the Raiders.
Caprock gets pair of wins
The Caprock Longhorns broke the winless stigma in district play by beating crosstown rival Palo Duro twice, winning 4-3 on Friday and 7-4 on Saturday.
Friday’s game was tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth when Caprock (9-11, 2-7) took the lead for good. A fielder’s choice grounder by Roger King and a bases-loaded walk by Xavier Escamilla provided the Longhorn runs. Matthew Hulen pitched a complete game for the victory.
Caprock jumped out to a 7-0 lead in Saturday’s game and never looked back. King led the Longhorns by going 4-for-4 with two homers.
Palo Duro fell to 4-14 and 1-8.
Plainview sweeps Tascosa
Tascosa’s offense had a tough time getting going in two games against Plainview, as the Rebels lost 6-3 on Friday and 4-2 on Saturday as Plainview claimed second place alone in the district.
The Rebels (9-12-1, 4-5) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first of the first game on a two-run double by Davis Yaws. But Plainview (12-12-1, 7-2) scored four in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead and Tascosa didn’t respond.
It was much the same pattern in the second game, as Tascosa took a 2-0 lead after the fourth as Josh Splawn and Anderson drove in runs with hits. But Plainview tied it with two runs in the fifth and took the lead for good in the sixth.
District 4-4A
Canyon scores another run-rule win over Hereford
Canyon continued its undisputed reign over the rest of the district to close the first half of 4-4A, beating Hereford 10-0 on the road in six innings to score the fifth straight 10-run mercy rule win to open district play Friday.
The Eagles (12-6, 5-0) got all they needed with a run in the second but put the game away with six runs in the third. Canyon ended it with two runs in the top of the sixth.
Ben Black had two hits and drove in two runs for the Eagles and pitched 5 1/3 innings while giving up only three hits and striking out nine.
Hereford fell to 10-10 and 2-3.
District 1-3A
Bushland crushes Dalhart
Bushland continued to dominate in district play, as the Falcons stayed unbeaten in 1-3A with their fourth straight run-rule victory to open district, rolling to a 16-2 win over Dalhart in five innings to stay unbeaten in district play.
Dalhart scored two runs in the top of the first inning, but Bushland (13-2, 4-0) scored 10 runs over the next two innings then brought home six in the bottom of the fourth to invoke the run rule.
The Falcons continued to hammer opposing pitching with 12 hits. Kade Gavina, Josh Bass, Dawson Jaco and Clayton Fisher each had two hits for Bushland.
River Road stayed a game behind Bushland in the district standings by routing Friona 16-5 in five innings to take sole possession of second place. The Wildcats (9-8, 3-1) took control of the game with nine runs in the bottom of the third for a 14-0 lead. Mason Henderson was 3-for-3 and drove in four runs for River Road and Jason Quintanilla and Drake Kilman both drove in two runs.
In the other district game, Tulia beat Dimmitt 11-5.
District scores
District 4-4A
Pampa 6, Dumas 3
Perryton 11, Borger 2
District 1-2A
Booker 16, Sunray 14
Sanford-Fritch 20, Boys Ranch 9
Gruver 12, Follett 9
District 2-2A
Clarendon 19, Claude 12
Wellington 18, Valley 3