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You are here: Sports Features Magdalena takes two from Rehoboth, 8-6, 13-9

Magdalena takes two from Rehoboth, 8-6, 13-9

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Lynx hit well, can’t maintain momentum

The Rehoboth Lynx ultimately got hot at the plate, but couldn’t sustain the offensive flow and dropped the second game of a baseball doubleheader 13-9 on April 28 to the Magdalena Steers in a tight contest played at Ford Canyon Park.

The game was the penultimate game of the 2018 season for both teams. Rehoboth is in its second consecutive season of varsity baseball, since doing away with the sport several years ago.

“We got some momentum going, but couldn’t keep it up,” Rehoboth head coach Anthony Sanchez said. “We played hard both games.”

The 2A Steers (9-10, 3-3) jumped out to a 5-0 lead at the start of the third inning behind some consistent scoring by sophomore first baseman Will Montoya, senior pitcher Noah Burleson and freshman outfielder Isaac Lopez.

But the Lynx got a few hits of their own with freshman Cole Sanchez, junior pitcher Kevin Johnny and freshman infielder Jacob Zylstra either scoring or hitting runs in in the third and fourth innings. At one point as the third, Rehoboth eighth-grader Talen West hit a triple and later came home on a catcher’s error by Magdalena.

The Lynx (10-8, 3-5) went to bat 12 straight times in the third inning and got a hit by each batter. Not every hit resulted in long balls, but the hits off Magdalena starting pitcher Noah Burleson were coming.

The Lynx didn’t get a run until freshman Cole Sanchez scored in the fourth inning to make the score 5-1. One sensed that the Lynx were figuring things out on offense and were poised to make a run.

“For some reason we went through a lull,” Magdalena head coach Kyl Candelaria said. “We had some costly breakdowns on defense and pitching and Rehoboth capitalized. We stayed with it, though.”

The Steers scored on runs by sophomore Kyle Julian and junior outfielder Jadyn Mow and Montoya. Magdalena cooled off with the score at 5-4 on an RBI by sophomore third baseman Isaiah Burleson by the time the fourth inning started. Burleson brought in freshman Isaac Lopez on the play.

The 3A Lynx went up 8-5 in the fourth when Jacob Zylstra hit in senior shortstop Raythian Francisco. That was prior to Francisco booming one to deep left field. The fifth inning saw Magdalena score a run and the same period was the beginning of what appeared to be some newfound momentum by the Steers. The Steers also inserted senior relief pitcher Ritchie Chavez who managed to slow Rehoboth a little.

The fifth was a time when Isaac Burleson hit in Montoya and when Lopez brought in Jadyn Mow. It was also a time when the Lynx went flat offensively.

Sanchez encouraged his players with “Let’s keep our hits going,” as the Steers were on the comeback trail. The score was tied 9-9 in the sixth inning and it looked as though either team could win. But the Lynx failed to take advantage of a few Magdalena errors and the score stayed that way until the seventh when Isaiah Burleson scored and Chavez hit in Lopez for an 11-9 lead. Julian and Mow rounded out the scoring for the Steers.

Game 1: Magdalena 8 Rehoboth 6

The first game saw Rehoboth’s Zylstra go 2-for-2 at the plate and Francisco go 2-for-3. Sanchez recorded two singles and an RBI. Freshman Allan West started at pitcher for the Lynx and gave up six runs. Reliever Mateo Chapman gave up two runs and a walk in the loss.

By Bernie Dotson
For the Sun