3/18/2008 - Roadrunners Hosting Navarro
Following a week in which the Angelina College Roadrunner baseball
team made two of its toughest road trips in conference play, the guys
in blue and orange will get a little taste of home cooking on
Wednesday.
The journeys to Paris and Texarkana left the ‘Runners at 1-3 in Region
XIV play. In Paris, Frank Corolla tossed five innings of shutout
baseball, only to have the Dragons rally with a seven-run sixth built
on maddeningly slow dribblers that made their way through the infield.
Trey Rackel threw a beauty in the nightcap to salvage the split.
The trip to Texarkana proved even less fruitful, with AC losing Game 1
on four errors, five walks and three hit batsmen. In the finale, the
vaunted Roadrunner offense – which, at times, has carried the team –
failed to materialize, stranding 12 runners over nine innings.
But everything looks better at home, and the ‘Runners will have an
opportunity to prove that last week was just a warmup. Navarro’s
Bulldogs, picked by many to win the conference by virtue of a lineup
chock full of returning sophomores, will invade Roadrunner Field in a
doubleheader scheduled to begin at noon. Navarro roared through its
non-conference portion of the schedule, compiling a record of 17-3
along the way. The Bulldogs are now 3-1 in conference competition,
having swept Lon Morris and splitting with Panola. The Bulldog offense
is potent, to say the least, posting double figures in runs in eight
of their wins.
And despite last week’s struggles, AC (11-10-2, 1-3) has the potential
to pick up a sweep today. Corolla will again take the mound in the
opener, with Rackel following in the nightcap. All they’ll need is
some of the run support they got early in the season, and they could
come away with an even record in Region XIV play.
Game time is at noon. J.P. Heath will handle the play-by-play on ESPN
1260 AM, or fans can log onto www.espn1260.net for the web cast.
