A Hawk Walk Off, Walk Wins Game over Bandera, 3-2
Hawks Post-Game Talk after their Walk-Off Walk Over Bandera
Canyon Lake had a walk off-walk off win over the Bandera Bulldogs when Matt Anderson finished off the game with a bases loaded walk that scored Mason Lee for the win, 3-2.
Go, Go, Go Hawks!!
The Lake needed this victory as they can now be in the driver’s seat when they face off with Bandera this coming Tuesday on the road and a chance for making the playoffs with a win.
“We figured a tie would give us the last crack and I felt good about that and we were fortunate to get that run in the 7th,” Head Coach Victor Escamilla said. “We want to just get in (the playoffs) and that is our big goal….before the season I saw where we would have home games with Bandera and Hondo in the 3 game series which set us up for a better chance.”
Now CL will go to the Bulldog’s House next Tuesday for a chance of winning the series and putting the Hawks in a good position to finish in 3rd place with a win over Hondo when they come back to the Hawk Nest.
“Now this is a must win for them,” Coach Escamilla surmised. “We will be playing with house money for us and we will need to find a way to steal one and that would put us in good shape.”
Canyon Lake started the night scoring 2 runs in their bottom of the 1st inning when Caleb Williams was hit by a pitch to start the game off. Williams had a hit and walk giving him a good on base percentage.
Lee had a perfect sacrifice bunt before Drew Tyra hit a towering double to the fence to score Williams for that first run. Brandon Robinson singled next scoring Tyra for the final run in this inning.
Bandera used a bus load of pitchers through this contest and Lee commented on how he would prepare for each Bulldog on the mound, “You have got to time them so there is no difference on how to face them and you just have to hit the right spot. Timing is everything in baseball.”
Way to Go Hawks!!
CL would leave the bases loaded with two pop-up outs to the short stop that ended any chance for getting any distance between the two combatants. “If we could have put some more runs across the plate then that would have taken a lot of pressure off of Montgomery,” Coach Escamilla stated.
This contest would then become a pitching match as both teams would allow a combined 9 hits but it was those walks given up by Bandera (9) that would finally seal their doom.
Montgomery was masterful on the mound as his pitching was on the spot the whole evening with minimum mistakes.
“He’s been doing well and he has 4 pitches that he can throw for strikes,” Escamilla heaped praise.
Try these numbers on for size: 82% of his pitches would be strikes. Montgomery would not throw his 10th ball until the 6th inning and the first batter he was behind on the count was his 3rd batter in the 5th inning who he would strike out to end that stanza.
There were only 3 fly outs for this game giving you an idea of the command Montgomery had during this dominating pitching performance.
Congrats Hawks!!
Digest those numbers and you will know he was in a zone for the whole game without issuing any walks and that helped keep the bases clean for most of the night.
Bandera scored their first run in the top of the 4th inning after a lead-off triple. That player scored on an error but that run would have been a fielders choice rbi score and was not based on that infield error.
The tying run scored in the top of the 6th inning with a one out single that advanced to 2nd base on an errant pick-off move to first base. An infield single by the next Bulldog had the corners occupied.
Then a double delayed steal that produced the run that tied the score, 2-2.
Canyon Lake would have a 10 pitch and 3 outs in the top of that 7th inning as Montgomery was still in control throughout as 9 of those 10 pitches were for strikes.
CL would take come to bat not having a player reach 3rd base since that 1st inning to start this contest.
Lee would start this final chance, before extra inning, with a 5 pitch walk that was followed by a Tyra sacrifice putting Lee in scoring position.
That called for an intentional walk being issued to Robinson putting a force out on the bases. Kyle Doerfler would strike out for the 2nd out and then Robinson had his 2nd steal on the night forcing another intentional walk for Tanner Sellers.
Let’s Go Hawks!!
Now Bandera needed just one out to force extra innings. Matt Anderson would be the next Hawk with a chance for producing a win….and that was the result on a full-count pitch that had the Bulldog’s Pitcher missing the strike zone forcing the Walk-Off run.
“I was thinking that they made a mistake in putting themselves in that situation,” Anderson said. “I was just thinking to get a good swing into the outfield.”
This had happened earlier this year when CL scored by walks against Hondo at the Hawk nest.
Anderson has been coaxing walks for most of this season as that result will always be a win whether you get a hit or walk.
“This win was huge and it puts us one game closer to the playoffs,” Anderson said in response to what this victory means for the team.
Now the Hawks will be on the road to face Bandera again on Tuesday and a chance of finishing this storied year having every Canyon Lake team finishing high enough for more $$ being exchanged for buying Playoff T-Shirts.
Go Hawks and Beat Bandera!!
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Bandera 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 5 0 CL Hawks 2 0 0 0 0 0 1* 3 4 3 *Two outs when winning run scored. ab r h bi 2b bb so sb misc Caleb Williams 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 hbp Mason Lee 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 sac Drew Tyra 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 sac Brandon Robinson 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 2 hbp Kyle Doerfler 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 sac Tanner Sellers 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 hbp Matt Anderson 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 ph CJ Parrish 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 JT Greene 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Lee Stafford 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 totals 18 3 4 3 1 9 3 3 pitching ip h r er bb so W L misc Avery Montgomery 7 5 2 2 0 7 1 0 hb pitches-strikes: 84-69 82% strikes
