High School Baseball: London sweeps Mathis with two run-rule victories
The London baseball team certainly did not lack intensity or focus over two games to start the Class 3A playoffs.
London swept a bi-district series against Mathis at Cabaniss Baseball Field, outscoring Mathis 24-0 in those two games but what showed was how ready London was to defend its Class 3A state championship was scoring a combined 11 runs in the first inning of the two games.
London scored seven to open Friday's first game on the way to a 10-0 run-rule victory, and then on Saturday scored four in the opening inning of a 14-0 victory.
"It's like a new season coming into playoffs, everyone can think about everything it's a brand new start," said London first baseman Landon Salinas, who hit a three-run home run in the first inning on Saturday. "Everyone was just fired up to make another run."
The Pirates smacked 10 hits in the four innings they batted, batting around twice, including sending 12 hitters to the plate in a six-run second inning.
"Our biggest thing was we wanted to get off to a good start and we were able to do that in both Game 1 and 2, threw strikes hit the ball well and played really good defense, that was our game plan coming in," said London co-head coach Kevin Carr.
London advances to take on Monte Alto or Edinburg IDEA in the area round at a time, date and place to be determined.
Saturday's highlights
Along with the four runs in the first inning, London added six as freshman catcher Christian Olivares hit a three-run home run and RJ Olivares and Mason Jacob each had RBI. London added three more in the third, taking advantage of two London errors and then one more in the fourth when three straight pinch hitters reached and Alex Manning drove in the run with a double to right field. Nine different London hitters had at least one hit in the victory.
Saturday's stars
London starting pitcher Blake Watters gave up two hits and did not allow a walk, while striking out five and faced 17 batters, two over the five-inning minimum. Salinas finished the day 1 for 1 with three RBI, three runs and also was hit by a pitch and walked. Christian Olivares was 1 for 3 with a run and three RBI, and Mason Jacob, who recently returned from a foot injury suffered during football season, was 2 for 3 with two runs and RBI on the day. Ethan Ortega and RJ Olivares also drove in runs for the Pirates. Ashton Quesada and Joziah Gutierrez tallied the two hits for Mathis.
They said it
London freshman catcher Christian Olivares on his home run in the playoffs: "Everybody knows that it's been a rough start for me to my high school career and for that and hopefully it just sets the tone for the rest of my season."
London first baseman Landon Salinas on the quick start: "I think it was big, it just puts us ahead early in the game and gets our pitcher under control knowing he has some run support. It actually gets us going, and all of us fired up."
London co-head coach Kevin Carr on where he feels like the team is at heading into the second round: "I feel pretty good about it right now, but you know each and every week is different as the weeks go on they get tougher and tougher. Each and every week we are getting better, and we are hoping to peak at the right time."
Mathis coach Eric Martinez on the season: "A lot of people counted us out. We weren't supposed to be practicing this week, and we weren't supposed to be playing (Friday) and (Saturday), so we proved a lot of people wrong to get here. Our goal at the beginning was to play the London Pirates because they are well-coached. That's a good team, a good ballclub and we want to get there one day. We learned this weekend."
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: High School Baseball: London sweeps Mathis with two run-rule victories
