LCC Palominos look to continue their winning ways
Host two-day series against Clarendon College beginning Friday
With a 3-1 overall record, the Palomino baseball team of Laredo Community College hopes to continue its winning ways as the team embarks on a four-game series against Clarendon College beginning on Friday, Feb. 5 at 12 p.m. at the Dr. Crispin Sanchez Baseball Field on north side of the LCC Fort McIntosh Campus.
The Clarendon Bulldogs will be opening their season in the Gateway City against the LCC Palominos, who last week launched their season on a positive note after defeating Ranger College by scores of 7-2, 8-2, 5-8 and 9-7.
Now in his third year as head coach, Gonzalez feels he has assembled a well balanced team consisting of a great recruiting class mixed with veteran returning players. Gonzalez is aided by first-year assistant coach Jose Campos.
In last week’s opening game against the Rangers, sophomore Chip Oliphant was the starting pitcher for the Palominos, going the distance by throwing 87 pitches. He allowed 2 hits, 5 strikeouts and 2 walks through 7 innings of work.
Gonzalez said that the defense played extremely well; they did not commit a single error.
The offense provided more than enough runs, plating 7 with 7 hits. The top batters in the first game were sophomores Ismael “Smiley” Gonzalez who went 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs, and Kris Guerrero who went 1 for 2 with 2 RBIs and a run.
Sophomores Derek Hagy, Chris Bernal, Ronnie Flores and freshman Jesus Rodriguez all went 1 for 3.
The Palomino defense held the Rangers scoreless until the fifth inning where 1 run came in and the other in the seventh and final inning.
After the game, coach Gonzalez said he reminded the Palominos to be humble for the win and to remember how hard they worked to keep going after the wins.
In game 2, all it took was 30 minutes for the Palominos to regroup and take the field again in fashion.
The defense committed only 1 error but played strong to hold the Rangers to 2 runs.
It was a back-to-back complete game for the Palomino pitching staff. This time freshman Travis Neslony pitched a stellar game for the Palominos, allowing just 2 hits, 9 strikeouts, and 1 earned run in 7 innings.
The Rangers jumped on the board quick in the first inning with 2 runs but that was all the Palominos would allow. The Palominos came right back to regain the lead and never looked back to achieve an 8 to 2 win.
Offensive leaders for game 2 were Jesus Rodriguez with a 2 for 3 performance, a double, and two runs. Smiley Gonzalez and Guerrero both went 1 for 3; Derek Hagy and Chris Bernal both went 1 for 4.
The Palominos had little time to celebrate their first two wins on January 29 as they had to face the Rangers for another double header the following day.
Game 3 presented the Palominos with a tough outing as they lost their first game of the season.
Coach Gonzalez said that the Palomino offense didn’t quite get off running out of the gates until the third inning.
The offense only scored five runs but wasn’t enough to clinch the win.
Starting pitcher Roberto Castillo, a sophomore from Laredo, started great and worked himself out a couple of jams early in the contest.
“But some costly errors by a near-perfect defense in the past two games hurt the Palominos this time around,” Gonzalez said.
The Palomino defense committed 4 costly errors, which allowed 4 runs to score, during the 7 innings.
The Palominos never gave up scoring 5 runs early in the game with a chance to take the lead with bases loaded in the sixth inning. But they came up short. Offensive leaders were Derek Hagy and Kris Guerrero, both of who went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs and 2 for 3 with 1 RBI, respectively. Other sluggers were Smiley Gonzalez, Ronnie Flores and Micah Herring, all of who went 1 for 3.
After losing game 3, the Palominos came out slugging 9 hits for 9 runs to win game 4 and capture the series.
The pitching performance was once again outstanding, thanks to sophomore Will Reynolds, who went the distance by allowing 3 earned runs, 3 strikeouts and 1 walk.
Coach Gonzalez said the Palomino defense looked a little shaky at times, committing 5 errors but played strong enough to secure the win.
Offensive fire power was delivered by Herring, who went 2 for 3 with 2 runs and Ernesto Chapa, who went 1 for 1 on a clutch hit to secure the win. Other top hitters included Smiley Gonzalez, Bernal, Rodriguez, and Julio Lara, each going 1 for 3, while Guerrero went 1 for 4.
"Overall it was a great weekend for the Palominos, who opened season play with clutch hits, key bunts, good defense and great pitching performances," Gonzalez said.
The Palominos look to achieve more win against Clarendon.
After Friday’s doubleheader, both teams face off again on Saturday at 12 p.m.
Admission to the games is $2 per adult, $1 for children and free with an LCC student or faculty/staff ID card.
The Laredo Community College Palominos look to post more wins as they battle the Clarendon College Bulldogs on Friday and Saturday at 12 p.m. in a four-game series at the Dr. Crispin Sanchez Baseball Field on the LCC Fort McIntosh Campus.
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