THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

Before Christian Anaya stepped into the batter’s box in the bottom of the 12th inning with the bases loaded and one out, Jacob Munoz shouted from first base “Don’t do too much.” The Odessa High senior left fielder watched one ball and jumped on the next pitch that resulted in a high chopper to shortstop. As Andres Martinez raced home, Anaya sprinted to first base for the game-winning RBI infield single as the Odessa High baseball team defeated Midland High 2-1 in a District 2-6A contest on Thursday at Pressly Field. Immediately after Anaya’s foot touched first base, his team rushed from the dugout to celebrate. “It was the best feeling after winning that game,” said Anaya, who was on the bottom of the dog pile. “When I was up to bat, I was concentrating on just putting the ball in play and scoring that runner on third base.” Odessa High head coach Josh Hulin said the team kept a solid approach throughout the contest. The last time the Bronchos faced Midland High starting pitcher Jaxon Hallmark at Pressly Field, the senior right-handed pitcher threw seven shutout innings and also hit a home run in his first at bat. The Bronchos (16-11 overall, 6-5 District 2-6A) jumped on Hallmark early and scored their first run in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI fielder’s choice from Johnny Rodriguez. Odessa High finished with 10 hits, which included a three-hit performance from Martinez. “In games like that, it’s really tough on hitters, because you get seven or eight at bats and you always don’t have a lot of great things going on in your mind when you get to the seventh or eighth at bat,” Hulin said. “I thought our guys did a good job of fighting that, going up there and being confident.” Though there were a total of three runs scored on 17 hits, both teams had plenty of opportunities to break the contest open. The two teams left a combined 24 runners on base. Odessa High starting pitcher Christian Baeza and reliever Damian Aspeitia helped leave 13 Midland High runners on base. Baeza pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed one run on three hits. Aspeitia finished the 7 1/3 innings to collect the victory on the mound. The left-handed reliever gave up no runs on four hits and struck out four. “(Baeza) did great,” Aspeitia said. “He kept us in the game and when they called on me, I just went up there and pitched my heart out.” The Bulldogs (13-13, 7-4) scored their only run of the contest on a Sam Bertelson RBI single to score Michael Hailey. Midland High’s Ryan Culp was tagged with the loss after he allowed one run on three hits in 1 1/3 innings. Hallmark threw seven innings, gave up the one run on four hits and collected seven strikeouts. Jackson Anuszkiewicz and Hallmark each finished two hits — which included one double apiece. Despite being tagged with the loss, the Bulldogs clinched a playoff spot. Midland High, which was the No. 2 seed a season ago, claimed a Class 6A bi-district series victory over Arlington High. The Bronchos continue their season traveling to crosstown rival Permian at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Odessa High can secure a playoff spot with one win in its final four games. The Bronchos are four games up on Permian and Amarillo Tascosa with four games left in the regular season. “No matter the opponent, right now these are very important games,” Hulin said. “We’ve been fighting our tails off not seeing good results. I’m so proud of these guys for being consistent and bringing a great approach every day. That’s going to be the same goal next week — show up and compete.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

ODESSA HIGH OVER MIDLAND HIGH

ROYAL MCGREGOR

AO Online | 4/13/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Mark Sterkel