High School Baseball: Robstown's impressive season ends with Game 3 loss to Boerne
JOURDANTON — Robstown could not have asked for a better start on Saturday after an impressive pitching performance from Jonathon Ovalle and a game-winning sacrifice fly by Jacob Ramon to win a must-win Game 2 of its Class 4A regional semifinal series against Boerne.
But the Pickers would have preferred a more favorable finish when it took the field 30 minutes later for a winner-take-all Game 3.
Robstown grabbed an early 1-0 advantage on an RBI single by Esai Gonzalez, but Boerne answered with three runs in the bottom of the first inning and broke the game open with eight runs in the third and one in the fourth to capture a 12-1 win in five innings by way of the 10-run mercy rule at the Jourdanton baseball field.
The Greyhounds will move on to the Region IV-4A final to play defending state champion Sinton, which defeated Davenport in its regional semifinal series.
The Pickers, who put together an impressive 2023 campaign by soaring to the District 31-4A championship, winning its first three playoff series and handing Boerne its first loss of the playoffs in Game 2, ends its season at 23-14.
"These guys are competitors and they fight all the time," Robstown coach Elias Vasquez said. "We felt we had the team to compete with anybody and sometimes unfortunately, it comes to an end like that. They picked us to finish fifth in our district and for us to win the district and go four rounds deep... What more can you ask for?"
Saturday's highlights
Ovalle was masterful in Game 2 by limiting the Greyhounds to two hits and striking out seven in seven innings of work. Robstown overcame a 1-0 deficit by tying the game on an RBI single by Derek Silva and even after Boerne rallied to tie the game in the seventh with two outs, the Pickers answered on a game-winning sacrifice fly by Jacob Ramon. Robstown carried its momentum from Game 1 by scoring the first run in Game 2 on an RBI single by Esai Gonzalez. But that would the only run for the Pickers, who were faced with using multiple arms early because of the UIL pitch count. Boerne took advantage of ace pitchers Jonathon Ovalle and Esai Gonzalez being unable to pitch by scoring eight of its 11 runs in the third inning to grab its largest lead of the series.
Saturday's stars
Ovalle shined for Robstown on the mound by pitching seven strong innings in Game 2. Derek Silva finished with two hits and an RBI in Games 2 and 3 and Gonzalez and Roque Serrano combined for three hits in the final two games. Boerne's Evan Kuhl finished with three hits and an RBI in Game 2 and Cam Johnson delivered in Game 3 by collecting two extra-base hits and two RBI to pace the Greyhounds.
They said it
Robstown coach Elias Vasquez on looking ahead to next season: "We have a good nucleus coming back with six to seven starters that played a lot of baseball this year. These seniors left a big opportunity for them to get a taste of what they can achieve. I think it's going to be good for us next year."
Robstown pitcher Jonathon Ovalle on his performance in Game 2 and what went wrong for the Pickers in Game 3: "I came in knowing we needed this win so I left it all out there. I tried to pump them up and I threw my heart out. I put it all on the field and that's all you can ask for. We had faith in our starting pitcher and he throws good but they (Boerne) were on it. I know Esai, if we had more pitches, we would have won for sure."
Up next
Boerne vs. Sinton in a Class 4A regional final series, TBA.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Robstown's season ends with Game 3 loss to Boerne in regional semis
