Ryno’s big day propels Flashes|Prep baseball
Published 12:00 am Thursday, March 19, 2009
LAKE — Once St. Aloysius’ pitchers figured out a way to keep the ball in the park, the team’s hitters were able to plan a nice comeback.
St. Al scored three runs in the top of the sixth — the last two coming on a wild pitch — and overcame an early five-run deficit to knock off Louisville, 7-6, at the Lake Spring Break Tournament on Wednesday.
Ryno Martin-Nez went 3-for-3 with a double, homer and two RBIs for St. Al, which capped off a strong run in the rain-shortened tournament. The Flashes won two of their three games, beating Class 4A power Kosciusko 6-5 and losing to Forest 3-0 on Tuesday.
“You can’t ever be satisfied, but you take it for what it is — two big wins against quality competition,” St. Al coach Clint Wilkerson said. “The main thing is being able to play well in April and May. That’s what it’s all about.”
As impressive as the win over Louisville was the way the Flashes (13-2) got it. Louisville (8-6) hit three homers in the first three innings and jumped out to a 5-0 lead at the end of the second. Brock Ward went 2-for-3 with a double, homer and three RBIs for the Wildcats, David McAdory hit a two-run homer and Pennis Thames hit a solo shot during a three-run first inning.
St. Al showed some power of its own in the third inning. Ryno Martin-Nez put the Flashes on the board with a two-run homer over the center field fence, and Judson Gatling added an RBI single later in the inning. Justin Rushing drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth to cut Louisville’s lead to 6-4. In the sixth, the Flashes used a couple of hits and some clutch baserunning to grab their first lead. Leadoff singles by Joseph Brown and Brendan Beesley were followed by an RBI double from Pierson Waring.
With runners at second and third, Thames uncorked a wild pitch. Beesley scored easily to tie the game at 6, but the catcher McAdory overthrew Thames. Waring alertly hustled home and slid in safely with the go-ahead run. McAdory’s overthrow was Louisville’s seventh error of the game. Three of those came in the sixth inning.
“It was already in front of the third baseman and he was the only one who could’ve gotten to the ball. I don’t even know what sign the coach gave me,” said Waring, who reached base three times in the game and scored two runs. Louisville put two runners on in the bottom of the sixth, but freshman reliever Josh Eargle slammed the door with a pair of strikeouts to earn his first save.
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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com.