The Floydada Whirlwinds and Lockney Longhorns face off in Lockney on April 1, 2022. (Ryan Crowe/FCR)
LOCKNEY – The Floydada Whirlwinds got cranked up early with five runs in the first inning to set the tone for a 22-7 win over the Lockney Longhorns on Friday. It was a big turn-around from the 8-2 loss the Whirlwinds absorbed on their new turf field at Watson Field on Tuesday to even the series at 1-1.
“The first inning was huge for us. A timely double by Izaiah Alvarado drove in two runs and we kept hitting the gaps in many instances throughout the game. It was one of our best hitting games of the season. The first inning for sure gave us confidence,” explained Floydada Coach Danny Brittian.
Floydada added two more run in the second frame to build a 7-0 led, but the Longhorns would battle back to reduce the margin to 7-5 with a trio of runs in the second, plus a pair in the third. Then in the fourth inning, the Whirlwinds exploded for 10-runs with eight different players getting a RBI to put the game away.
Alvarado led Floydada by going 4-5 at the plate with five RBI, Saul Reyes was 3-4, Javier Santos 3-5, plus Ryan Perez and Matthew Luna had two hits apiece and seven RBI between them.
“We really put it all together today. We did a good job of running the bases, hitting the ball, and Donovan Rocha was solid on the mound. We continued to hit the ball where they weren’t with grounders and line drives in the gaps,” Brittian added.
MORE: See photos of the matchup from Cervantes Photography
Lockney’s offense was led by Haygen Lefevre and Aven Sanchez getting two hits each. Quincy Johnson and Johnson produced five RBI between them.
Rocha pitched the complete game for Floydada by giving up seven runs on seven hits. Dyllan Thiebaud, who got the win on Tuesday, took the loss on Friday by lasting 1.1-innings giving up seven runs. Lockney used a total of four pitchers in the loss.
The Longhorns had three probable starters out of the game with various injuries.
FLOYDADA – 5 2 0 10 5 – 22 16 3
LOCKNEY – 0 3 2 0 2 – 7 7 8
WP – Donovan Rocha; LP – Dyllan Thiebaud
records: Floydada (5-9, 2-4); Lockney (8-6, 1-3)
Triple – (Flo) Izaiah Alvarado
Doubles – (Flo) Alvarado, Ryan Perez
Singles – (Flo) Saul Reyes (3), Javier Santos (3), Alvarado (2), Matthew Luna (2), Andres Mendoza,
Juan Gonzales; (Lock) Haygen Lefevre (2), Aven Sanchez (2), Thiebaud, Martin Salas, Quincy
Johnson
RBI – (Flo) Alvarado (5), Luna (5), Santos (2), Perez (2), Mendoza
(Lock) Johnson (3), Sanchez (2), Nathan Cineceros
Runs scored – (FLO) Rocha (4), Reyes (4), Santos (4), Alvarado (3), Perez (2), Gonzales (2), Ramos;
(Lock) Maliki Alvis (2), Lefevre (2), Salas (2), Austin Rodriguez
