5/12/2008 - AC Season Comes to an End
MOUNT PLEASANT – A season filled with the unexpected took an ugly
twist for the Angelina College Roadrunners in the Region XIV
tournament.
The team that wasn’t really expected to make the tournament in what
many considered a rebuilding year put together a solid conference
effort and entered the tourney as the second seed in the East Zone.
But the very elements of the game that got the ‘Runners to the tourney
didn’t materialize when they needed most.
After knocking off Blinn 7-5 to stave off elimination earlier in the
day, the Roadrunners dropped a 5-2 game in a late nightcap with
Wharton to end AC’s season.
Four of the Pioneers’ five runs were unearned, a factor that plagued
the Roadrunner defense the entire series. In addition, AC managed just
six hits off Wharton pitchers, including just five hits off Pioneer
starter Mike Clark. Of those six hits, just two were of the extra-base
variety: A Chase Hernandez pinch-hit, solo home run in the seventh;
and a Chris Andreas double in the eighth.
AC starter Corey Benevides pitched well enough to earn the win, giving
up just one earned run in his seven innings. But as was the case with
Jason Gurka on Sunday, Benevides got little help on the defensive
side, with three AC errors leading to four of Wharton’s five runs.
Earlier, the Roadrunners managed to stay alive courtesy of Frank
Corolla. Tossing a complete-game beauty, the right-hander and
University of Houston signee proved his worth while keeping his
teammates pumped, tossing the full nine innings in AC’s 7-5 win over
Blinn College in an elimination game in Mount Pleasant.
Corolla, who entered the AC record books earlier this season with his
60th appearance on the mound as a Roadrunners, allowed just five
singles and one earned run in keeping the ‘Runners alive and kicking.
This after AC stumbled to an early 4-1 hole after committing four
errors that led to the Bucs’ four-run margin.
Following a near-disastrous fifth inning that saw Blinn score runs on
three AC miscues, Corolla entered the dugout with a smile and words of
encouragement for his teammates.
“Errors are going to happen in this game,” Corolla said. “I just told
our guys to keep playing, that we were still in the game.”
The ‘Runners responded with a five-run sixth inning aided by two Blinn
walks and three Buc errors. Singles from Keith Prestridge, Jake
Rowell, Austin Lasprilla and Matt Thielepape came around bases-loaded
walks from Mark Serna and Ryan Kelly; and Nathan Hernandez produced a
quality at-bat that ended in an RBI groundout. By inning’s end, AC had
taken a 6-5 lead with just three innings to go – and Corolla seemingly
hitting fifth gear down the stretch.
Roadrunner head coach Jeff Livin, who had plenty to say to his team
after the ugly early innings, said it wasn’t a matter of what he said
to spark his struggling team.
“If you’re going to bow out of a tournament, you want to do it knowing
you’ve played your best ball,” Livin said. “That’s really all I told
our guys. That, and to stop playing not to fail. Our game is to go
out, be aggressive and make things happen. We didn’t do that until
later in the game.”
While the Roadrunners worked to find their game, Corolla had his going
from the onset, finishing with three strikeouts and just three walks.
Of the 39 batters he faced, Corolla retired 10 on ground-ball outs.
The lone earned run by the Bucs came on a Layton Hiller sac fly in the
seventh; the rest of the Blinn runs were gifts via AC miscues.
Those miscues proved disastrous in the nightcap, bringing an end to
the Roadrunners’ season. AC finished at 32-18 for the year.
