Yoemen to face Maypearl in next round of playoffs
The Yoemen baseball team is headed to the next round of the playoffs after defeating the Fairfield Eagles in the Bi-District round of the playoffs last weekend.
The Yoemen defeated the Eagles in the series 2-1 to keep their season alive.
Game 1 was on Friday, and Cameron was defeated 7-5.
Cameron got things started in the first inning and took a 3-0 lead. Armando Reyes singled on a line drive to right field, driving in two runs. The third run was scored on a RBI single by Dillan Akin.
Fairfield responded with four runs of their own in the third inning, then went on to take a 7-3 lead. Cameron tried to make a comeback and scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but it wasn’t enough as they would fall 7-5. The Yoemen totaled eight hits in the game. Dillan Akin, Armando Reyes, and Ryan Host all collected multiple hits for Cameron.
Yovanni Cerros was on the hill for the Yoemen. He went four innings, allowing four runs on three hits and striking out two. Braylon Drake and Armando Reyes entered the game as relief, throwing two innings and one inning respectively, combining for three runs on four hits and only one walk.
Game 2 was on Saturday, and Cameron defeated Fairfield 4-1 to force a third game.
Coach Nick De La Cerda's message to the team going into the day was just to force a game 3.
“Just keep fighting,” Coach Nick De La Cerda said. “The pressure is all on them (Fairfield) to try and put us away, and we just kept talking about keep believing in each other, keep fighting. If we get to game 3, we feel good about it, feel good about our pitching staff. They did a good job pitching that last game, keeping us off balance, but in the end we were able to come through.”
The Eagles got things started in the first inning on a sacrifice fly to go up 1-0.
The Yoemen responded with two runs in the third inning. Both runs were scored on bases loaded walks. The first was when Braylon Drake was hit by a pitch, then Marino Cardona drew a walk, scoring the second run. Cameron would get some insurance with two more runs in the seventh inning, also off of bases loaded walks by Vaughn Kostroun and Zay Gillmon.
The Yoemen defense was sure-handed and didn't commit a single error. Landen Greene was the winning pitcher for Cameron. The righty surrendered one run on six hits over seven innings, striking out three and walking one.
“He just does a really good job of mixing it up, hitting spots and trusting his defense,” De La Cerda said. “He’s not going to be a huge strikeout guy, he’s going to be weak contact, something he’s been really good at throughout his entire career. He’s a bulldog, he wanted the game (game 3) at the end. He said, 'Let me finish this one I got pitches left.'”
Later that day, they played the deciding game 3. Cameron defeated Fairfield in a 1-0 thriller in walk off fashion to advance in the playoffs.
The game was still tied at 0 in the bottom of the seventh inning when Ryan Host saved the day. After Vaughn Kostroun, Zay Gillmon, and Kason Goolsby put themselves on base, Host got the Yoemen crowd elated and on their feet with a single on a hard ground ball into the outfield, driving in the walkoff run to win the game.
“Put a kid in like Vaughn who’s just going to do his best and give you his best, and he was able to get on base,” De La Cerda said. “(Zay Gillmon) laid down a really good bunt where they had to make a decision and make a play and weren’t able to make the play and put us in good scoring position. Then getting a hit to the first baseman, nobody was covering the bag and Kason’s fast enough to beat the guy, and get that bat in Ryan Host's hands. We knew if we could get back to Host with one or no outs, we’d have a good shot.”
Along with being the hero on offense, Ryan Host started the game on the mound for Cameron. The righty lasted five and a third innings, allowing four hits and zero runs while striking out five.
“He’s a senior that’s been here before and knows what it takes and trusted in his defense,” De La Cerda said. “It was hot so he was fighting through the heat and fighting through probably a little bit of dehydration, but these seniors; they’ve been here. They’re bulldogs and if they just trust each other, that’s the biggest thing is just trust each other and we’ll do alright.”
Another of those seniors, Landen Greene showed the heart of a champion and pitched the last two innings, taking the win for the Yoemen. He allowed two hits and no runs, striking out one and walking zero.
Up next for the Yoemen will be an area matchup with the Maypearl Panthers. It will be a three game series. Game 1 will be Friday at 7:30 p.m., game 2 will be on Saturday at 2 p.m., and if needed, game 3 will be on Saturday at 5 p.m. All games will be held at Axtell High School. The Yoemen will be the visiting team. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for students.