NMMI Sports Press
The Broncos walked it off twice on Sophomore Saturday at the NMMI Ballpark, ending Game 1 early by a final of 15-5 and then coming back from three runs down in extras to take the late contest 11-10 against the visiting Clarendon College Bulldogs.
The first game started off rocky for the Broncos, as starting pitcher Marc Rios gave up two singles before a high fly-ball to left was lost in the sun by outfielder Edrien Martinez, allowing the first two Clarendon runs.
A string of errors helped the Bulldogs put up two more runs in the first to take an early 4-0 lead, but the Broncos answered in the bottom of the frame as second baseman Rhett Stokes, first baseman Owen Alsup and designated hitter Jun Hyuk Kwon all hit doubles, with Stokes and Alsup scoring.
The Bulldogs managed one run in the second and that was it for the game, as Rios locked in the rest of the way, keeping Clarendon inside the park and off the scoreboard while the NMMI offense went to work.
The Broncos tallied five runs in the second inning to take the lead for good. After singles from outfielder Ivan Cogles and catcher Antonio Ramazzini, outfielder Fran Gross drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Stokes moved Ramazzini to third with a single, then stole second during the next at bat. The throw to second was late and got away from the infielder, allowing Ramazzini to scoot home, lessening the Bronco deficit to one run.
Shortstop B.Y. Choi and Alsup drew walks before Martinez made up for his fielding miscue with a two-run single to put the Broncos up 6-5. Kwon was hit by pitch, loading the bases for third baseman Daniel Lizarraga and a new Clarendon pitcher.
Lizarraga grounded out, but not before Alsup trotted home on a balk, making it 7-5 in favor of the home team.
NMMI put up crooked numbers in the third, fifth and sixth innings to end the game an inning early, but with a short week of practice and recovery before the last series next weekend in Big Spring, TX, head coach Chris Cook had hoped to end it just a bit earlier.
"Rios threw really well, he just got a little unlucky in the first inning," said Cook. "We had a chance to end it in the fifth and that would've kept Marc's pitch count down to about 80, which would've been huge going into next weekend with a short week."
"But at the end of the day, this is a series where you really can't worry about the next day. You've gotta win."
Martinez went 3-for-4 with six RBIs and two runs scored, Alsup was 2-for-3 with four runs scored, Kwon was a perfect 2-for-2 with an RBI and walk and Cogles went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a walk.
Martinez had two homers, including the game winner, a no doubter that Cook enjoyed watching leave the park.
"When he makes contact, it goes a long ways," explained Cook. "He just hits a different style of home run. He has the ability to hit just some majestic balls that stay in the air forever."
Stokes was 3-for-4 with three runs scored, adding to his nation-leading total.
The second game was a back-and-forth affair with Clarendon drawing first blood with a run in the top of the first. NMMI came back with a 5-spot in the bottom of the second, but the Bulldogs tied it with four runs in the third.
From there, neither team could muster more than a run in any inning until the action-packed 11th.
The Broncos were down a run in the bottom of the ninth when Choi, another Bronco with high national rankings in several offensive categories, knocked one over the centerfield fence to tie the game at 7-all.
With just one out, Alsup and Martinez singled before Kwon stepped to the plate with a chance to end the game, but the freshman grounded into a double play to end the inning.
After 3.1 innings of dominance on the mound from right-hander Yuki Shigeyasu, already the most he's pitched in any game this season, the Bulldogs got to the freshman in the 11th, putting up three runs to take a 10-7 lead.
Shigeyasu kept his composure, picked off the runner at first for one out, struck out a Bulldog for the second and got an easy pop out for the third.
Down three runs, Stokes lined out to the shortstop for the first out. B.Y. Choi was hit by a pitch that many in the ballpark exclaimed was intentional, and then Alsup was hit.
That brought up Martinez, who already had two homers on the day, but the sophomore outfielder flied out, leaving the hero duties to Kwon, who more than made up for his double-play groundout with a two-run shot to tie the game.
"He had a tough last at bat, with the winning run at third and hitting into a weak groundball doubleplay, but he got another opportunity, the bus came back for him and he squeaked one over the fence in left," Cook said.
With redemption becoming the theme of Saturday's games, Lizarraga got in on the action. After grounding out with the bases loaded earlier in the contest, the freshman infielder watched one strike, then obliterated a ball to left that stayed just right of the foul pole, as the Bronco dugout exploded with jubilation.
"Danny hit an absolute, no doubter. Just on the screws, it was just a matter of would it stay fair," said Cook. "I knew off the bat it was gone, and it stayed fair the whole way. Pretty exciting stuff!"
The Broncos came into the series tied with Amarillo College for fourth place in the conference, and just one game ahead of the Bulldogs. The top four teams get to compete for the regional crown in Weatherford in a couple weeks.
Amarillo split their doubleheader with Frank Phillips College, giving the Broncos a one-game lead for fourth place in the WJCAC.
"We put a little distance between us and Clarendon, which doesn't mean much yet because we still have to play two more tomorrow," Cook said before knowing how the Amarillo-FPC games ended. "Depending on what Amarillo does, we could be two games up, one game up, or right there even with them.
"At this point we just have to focus on one game at a time. Hopefully our two sophomore pitchers will come out tomorrow, throw a lot of strikes and offensively, the heat could help us get some ball out of the yard, which has been our method of success."
The Broncos hit six home runs Saturday, setting a new school record for homers in a season with 77.
The Broncos final home games of the 2023 season start tomorrow at noon at the NMMI Ballpark.