4/9/2008 - ‘Runners Split with Texarkana
The Angelina College Roadrunners rallied with an opening-game,
come-from behind rally over Texarkana to extend their winning streak
to 11 games – but they couldn’t quite find a way to stretch the streak
to 12 straight.
AC got back-to-back homers from Ryan Kelley and Joey Latulippe – whose
blast gave him two for the game – in coming back from 5-4 down to win
6-5 in Game 1. But the Bulldogs rebounded to pound five Roadrunner
pitchers for 13 runs on 19 hits in the nightcap to end AC’s streak
with a 13-7 win.
On a day more suited to Chicago’s windy Wrigley Field than Roadrunner
Field, the two teams combined for nine homers, including Bulldog
Justin Coats’ three-run, inside-the-parker in the sixth inning of the
nightcap. For AC, Latulippe hit a pair of dingers, followed by Chris
Andreas, Mark Serna, Chris Laird and Ryan Kelley.
The first game was a mirror image of several AC/Texarkana games from
past years and offered the usual assortment of the wild and crazy.
There were three runners thrown out at the plate, a Texarkana inning
ended with a rare runner’s interference call and a bizarre
inning-dousing wild pitch.
Still, facing a team against whom the ‘Runners have suffered the worst
of luck over the past couple of seasons, AC battled back in the opener
after falling behind early. An RBI single by Matt Thielepape – who
drove in four runs in the two games – put AC on top 2-1 heading into
the fourth inning. But Texarkana, who leads the league with 102
doubles, scored two runs in the fourth on double by Gip Hendrix – his
first of two two-baggers in the game – and singles from David Allday
and Thomas Watson. The Bulldogs tacked on two more in the sixth on
another Hendrix double, a sac fly by Allday and a single from Lance
Marvel; however, Texarkana’s chance to add another run went awry when
AC reliever Tanner Hamilton, facing his first batter with runners on
first and third, uncorked a pitch in the dirt that Latulippe chased
down with a pad-grinding slide. With Trevor Rainey trying to take
second, Latulippe threw down to ‘Runner shortstop Austin Lasprilla,
who cut off the throw and threw back home. There, Hamilton covered the
plate and applied the tag to a diving Watson for the inning’s third
out.
AC kept it a one-run game with two runs in their half of the fifth.
Austin Lasprilla walked and moved to second on an infield error; he
then scored ahead of Thielepape’s double. Thielepape stole third and
scored on a Keith Prestridge single, and the ‘Runners trailed 5-4 with
two at-bats remaining.
They’d only need one. After the Bulldogs’ three-run sixth – fueled by
Coats’ three-run, inside-the-parker – AC’s Kelley led off with his
first homer of the season, a drive over the right-field wall that tied
the score at 5-5. Latulippe, who had launched a ball over the
scoreboard in left in his first-at-bat, exceeded that distance with a
blast into the woods to give the Roadrunners a one-run lead moving
into the seventh. There, reliever Chase Hernandez entered with one out
and two Bulldogs on base; Hernandez intentionally walked David
Phillips, then retired Jared Washington and Dean Malthouse to earn the
save and give AC its 11th straight win. Frank Corolla, who left in the
sixth, earned the win while Bulldog reliever Josh Gill got saddled
with the loss.
In the nightcap, the Roadrunners fought back from a 7-2 deficit with a
three-run seventh and a two-run eighth to trail by one going into the
ninth. Thielepape’s two-run double and Chris Andreas’ sol homer were
the seventh-inning highlights; and Mark Serna’s two-run shot in the
eighth – his first of the year – put the ‘Runners within a single run
at 8-7 with Texarkana coming up for their last at-bat.
But the Bulldog offensive attack wasn’t finished: Texarkana sent nine
men to the plate in the inning, scoring five insurance runs on an RBI
single from Malthouse and a three-run homer by Watson.
The Roadrunners (23-14, 12-6) take on conference-leading Navarro
Saturday in a doubleheader in Corsicana. Game time is noon.
