THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

The Midland Lee baseball team entered its District 2-6A contest against Odessa High without one of its top hitters — John Wuthrich — after a preexisting back injury resurfaced. Yet, that didn’t stop the Rebels from putting up double-digit hits. Midland Lee used a complete team hitting performance and a quality start from left-handed pitcher Wyatt Hernandez for a 6-3 victory against the Bronchos during senior day Tuesday at Pressly Field. “I didn’t think we played the game of baseball bad today,” Odessa High head coach Josh Hulin said. “I thought our at bats were not bad and competitive. We put pressure on them, but at end of the day, I felt like we were so relaxed with the fact that we knew we were in the playoffs. We didn’t play with much fire. We just got beat by a team that played better than us today.” Brian Roper — the head coach for the Rebels — said Wuthrich is listed as day-to-day. In his previous 13 district games, Wuthrich has been a thorn in the side of nearly every pitcher in the district as the Texas State signee went 25 for 45 (.556 average) with eight home runs, five doubles, one triple, 10 walks, 26 RBIs and 23 runs scored. Yet, Roper was impressed with the team’s ability to step up without Wuthrich in the lineup. Every batter for the Rebels (12-15 overall, 9-5 District 2-6A) recorded a hit and they had the leadoff batter reach base in the first five innings. Midland Lee plated five runs in four of those five innings. “I’m proud of our group for stepping up,” Roper said. “When one of your main guys isn’t in your lineup, we had other people step up today. We kind of shuffled the lineup around.” In the bottom of the second inning, the Bronchos (18-12, 8-6) claimed a 2-1 lead after Damian Aspeitia supplied an RBI single to center field and Gibrian Pena squeezed down an RBI sacrifice bunt to drive in Christian Anaya. Midland Lee responded in the top of the third inning when Ty Coleman ripped his second RBI sacrifice fly to deep center field. The Rebels tied the contest, 2-2, and would eventually take the lead in the fourth after Omar Ruiz and Chase Pederson supplied back-to-back RBI base hits. Ruiz hit his for a triple to right-center field. The Bronchos had an opportunity to cut into their deficit in the fourth and fifth innings, but Hernandez eliminated both threats. “We didn’t execute when we had runners in scoring position like we should have,” said Anaya, who went 2 for 3 with a triple and scored a run. “That’s a big part of our game. We got to execute. Today, our sticks weren’t really there.” Hernandez forced a fielder’s choice to catch Anaya at third base in the fourth inning and during the fifth, he stranded runners at second and third with one out. The left-handed starter earned the win after he threw six innings, allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits and struck out five, while J.J. Melendez picked up the save with a perfect seventh inning. Odessa High starting pitcher Shandon Herrera racked up nine strikeouts, but he was tagged with the loss after he gave up five runs (three earned) on 10 hits over five innings. Damian Aspeitia threw the final two innings and he allowed one run — a solo home run from Adam Becker. Nine players on the Bronchos’ roster celebrated senior day. Anaya said it was tough to walk off Pressly Field with a loss in his final high school contest, but he said Odessa High will look to return the favor. “Before the game, we all talked about coming out with win, since it’s our last game on this field,” he said. “It just didn’t go our way today, so we are just going to bounce back on Friday at their field.” The Bronchos and Rebels have a rubber match at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Ernie Johnson Field. That regular-season finale will have playoff implications for the district’s No. 3 seed. “There’s still a lot to play for,” Hulin said. “This game on Friday is a third-place game. Whoever wins is going to be third place in our district and every chance you get to improve your seeding is going to help you down the road.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

MIDLAND LEE BEATS ODESSA HIGH

ROYAL MCGREGOR

OA Online | 4/25/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Mark Sterkel