The Odessa High baseball team never caught a break to open its bi-district best-of-three playoff series with El Paso Montwood.
Eric Estrada — a 5-foot-11, 155-pound senior right-handed starter for the Rams — stranded six Bronchos over six innings and collected a total of nine outs with runners in scoring position.
Yet, the final dagger came from El Paso Montwood senior Anthony Chavez.
The first baseman for the Rams made a diving catch down the right-field line with runners on first and second and from his knees he dove to first base to complete the game-ending double play to give the District 1-6A champion El Paso Montwood a 9-0 victory over Odessa High — the No. 4 seed from District 2-6A — on Friday at Pressly Field.
“We just got outclassed,” Odessa High head coach Josh Hulin said. “They are district champs and we are a No. 4 seed. They played like district champs and we didn’t play like No. 4 seed. We played like a team that never played baseball before.”
Estrada picked up the victory after he threw six shutout innings. The senior improved to 9-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to under one.
El Paso Montwood head coach Willie Romo said Estrada has the ability to buckle down with runners in scoring position and the senior proved that time after time in the bi-district opener. The Bronchos (18-14) had the leadoff hitter reach second base in the first two innings. Estrada picked off Robert Morales to end the first frame and Gibrian Pena never advanced in the second inning.
“(Estrada) has been nails for us,” Romo said. “He’s been pitching out of jams all year long. That’s when he really grinds it out when runners are in scoring position. He really commands his fastball.”
The Rams (24-5) backed their starting pitcher with multiple runs in three of the six innings.
El Paso Montwood supplied 10 hits, collected four walks — two that drove runs — and capitalized on three Odessa High errors. The Bronchos didn’t have the same fortunes at the plate with four hits, which included their lone extra base hit from Jacob Munoz in the sixth inning.
The Rams opened the scoring with three runs on three hits in the bottom of the first inning.
El Paso Montwood added four runs to its lead in the fourth inning and capped the contest with two more in the fifth. Miguel Soto finished with a game-high three hits and reached base in all four of his at bats. Gabino Cortez added a pair of hits, which included an RBI single in the fourth inning.
The Bronchos starting pitcher Joshua Armendariz was tagged with the loss after he threw five innings. The senior right-handed pitcher allowed nine runs and nine hits on 102 pitches.
“(Armendariz) competed to be the best of his ability,” Hulin said. “I’m not disappointed in what he did up there at all. He competed and did his very best.
“At the end of the day, we just got beat really bad by a team that was far superior today.”
Odessa High and El Paso Montwood continue their best-of-three series at 1 p.m. Saturday. A Bronchos win would force a third game that will take place 30 minutes after the second game.
Romo knows the Bronchos are going to send their ace — Shandon Herrera — to the mound, so he said his team has be ready to battle.
“It’s one of those things that we can’t get overconfident,” he said. “We can’t get complacent. We have to play tomorrow like we are down 0-1. We have to fight. I know we are going to face a pretty tough arm tomorrow. Our mentality is to play with extra effort and compete.”
