Lockney Senior Austin Rodriguez crosses the plate during Tuesday's game against the New Deal Lions. (Cervantes photography/Used with Permission)
NEW DEAL – Lockney had enough offensive punch to win with 11-hits, but New Deal showed its patience at the plate by taking 14-walks in a hard fought 10-7 win over the Longhorns on a blustery day in Lubbock County on Tuesday. The miserable 30-35 mph north winds probably factored into the Longhorns very capable pitching staff giving up the abnormal amount of walks.
New Deal jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first inning, but the Longhorns battled back to score four consecutive innings for a 6-3 lead. The Lions then answered with five runs in the fourth inning to take an 8-6 lead they never relinquished.
Lockney kept the pressure on with Pablo Morales, Austin Rodriguez, Malaki Alvis and Xavier Jimenez all getting two hits each and produced five RBI between the quartet. New Deal had seven hits in the game paced by Colby Henderson going 2-5 and scored three runs.
A significant accomplishment by Lockney was getting New Deal’s starting pitcher Harley Patterson out of the game after two innings with three runs on three hits and four walks. Patterson was the Lions MVP in the 2A State Tournament in 2021 when New Deal claimed the state championship.
Lockney used three pitchers in the game with Morales, Rodriguez and Josh Jimenez. Jimenez is probably the only Longhorn pitcher that could not be available in game 2 on Saturday due to the 96-pitches he threw. Dyllan Thiebaud is a likely candidate to take the mound for the Longhorns on Saturday in Game 2, but Morales and Rodriguez should be available if needed. Lockney has good pitching depth to endure the 3-2A baseball race.
There is a possibility that New Deal will use Patterson and Henderson again on the mound this Saturday.
MORE: See photos of Tuesday’s game at Cervantes Photography
LOCKNEY – 1 2 1 2 0 0 1 – 7 11 3
NEW DEAL – 3 0 0 5 2 0 0 – 10 7 5
WP – Jonas Rodriguez, LP – Josh Jimenez
records: Lockney (7-4, 0-1); New Deal (7-3, 3-0)
Lockney stats
Singles (11) – Austin Rodriguez (2), Pablo Morales (2), Maliki Alvis (2), Xavier Jimenez (2),
Nathan Cineceros, Dyllan Thiebaud, Josh Jimenez
RBI – Rodriguez (2), Thiebaud, J. Jiminez, Alvis, X. Jimenez,
Runs scored – Cineceros (3), Thiebaud, Rodriguez, Alvis, Martin Salas
3-2A Baseball results from Tuesday
New Deal 10 Lockney 7
Floydada 17 Hale Center 1
Ralls 9 Post 5
Olton – open
3-2A Baseball standings and season records
New Deal 3-0 7-3
Ralls 3-0 8-6
Post 2-1 3-7-1
Floydada 1-2 4-7
Lockney 0-1 7-4
Hale Center 0-3 3-7-1
Olton 0-2 0-3
3-2A Baseball schedule on Saturday
New Deal at Lockney
Hale Center at Floydada
Post at Ralls
Petersburg at Olton (non-dist)
