by Hunter Henzler
Early lead gives the Slaton Tigers Varsity victory over Tulia, 11-1The Slaton Tigers Baseball team jumped out to an early lead on Tulia and captured an 11-1 victory on Monday at Slaton.
The game was decided quickly as the Tigers exerted their will early with nine runs in the first three innings.
An RBI single by Fernando Portillo, steal of home by Abraham Jaramillo, an RBI single by Adrian Moreno, all during the first inning fueled the Slaton Tigers Varsity’s offense early.
Portillo was solid at the plate for the Tigers. Portillo went 3-4, drove in one and scored three runs.
Tulia couldn’t get anything going as long as Roland Cardenas was on the hill. Tulia managed just one hit off of the Slaton pitcher, who allowed no earned runs, walked two and struck out eight during his time on the mound.
The Slaton Tigers Varsity built upon their lead with five runs in the third. The inning got off to a hot start when Trent Clark singled, bringing home Portillo and Moreno. That was followed up by Nate Sanchez’s single, plating Clark and Domingo Bernal.
The Tigers pushed across one run in both the fourth inning and the sixth. In the fourth, the Slaton Tigers Varsity scored on a steal of home, bringing home Portillo.
The Tigers tacked on one run in the sixth to end the game by way of a 10 run “mercy rule”. This came from a hit from Sanchez, scoring Ryan Escobar.
The Tigers are now 2-2 on the season, and will play a double header beginning at 12pm in Friona on Saturday, March 14th.
