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Friday, May 19, 2000

Alaniz' K's KO Odem in regional quarterfinal Game 1

Sinton's starting pitcher strikes out 11 Owls in 4-1 Pirates victory

By Matt Young
Caller-Times

John Kennedy/Caller-Times

Sinton third baseman Taylor Edwards (right) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the Pirates' first run of the game. Sinton defeated Odem, 4-1, in Game 1 of the teams' regional quarterfinal series.

SINTON - Adrian Alaniz is listed as a freshman, but he hasn't pitched like it in the playoffs.
   Alaniz blazed his way to 11 strikeouts Thursday, leading Sinton past Odem, 4-1, in the first game of the Region IV-3A quarterfinals series. Game 2 in the best-of-three series is at 7:30 p.m. today at Odem.
   Alaniz gave up just five hits and shut the Owls out in the final six innings.
   "He's a freshman, but he's 10-1 so we didn't have any problem throwing him out there in the first game of the series," Sinton coach Gene Kasprzyk said. "We don't really think of him as a freshman. Baseball is his life and he's been playing since he was old enough to pick up a ball, so his youth wasn't a concern for us at all."
   Alaniz (11-1) did the damage on the mound and his brother Emi Alaniz took care of business at the plate. Emi Alaniz went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI. Adrian Alaniz went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI.
   That combination was nothing new to Odem, which has now lost to Sinton three times this season. Sinton (22-9) went undefeated in District 30-3A. Odem (19-16) finished third in the same district.
   "It's what we've seen all year from them," Odem coach Mark Medina said. "It's real basic baseball. They just get all the timely hits."
   With Alaniz controlling Odem's offense, Sinton had a comfortable lead for most of the game, which included some controversy.
   Odem had a chance to tie the game in the third inning, but a mistake in Odem's lineup card cost the Owls a run.
   In the first inning, Odem centerfielder Dustin Perez started hobbling around in the outfield, so Medina took him out of the game. In his place, Medina moved Lupe Rodriguez from designated hitter to centerfield.
   In doing so, Medina also moved him from the seventh spot in the batting order to the third, which is illegal.
   In the third inning, Odem seemed to tie the score at 2-2 when Rodriguez reached base on an error that scored Justin Kurz. After Rodriguez's at bat, however, Kasprzyk protested Odem's lineup change.
   After a meeting between the three umpires and coaches from both sides, the umpires ruled that Odem had batted out of order. Rodriguez was ruled out and Kurz was sent back to third base. Odem's next batter, Gilbert Gonzalez, struck out, which ended the inning.
   "We knew when they made that lineup change that it wasn't kosher, but we had to wait until the guy who was out of order actually came up to bat," Kasprzyk said. "It just so happened that when the guy came up, he made a big play, and we were able protest it."
   Odem will try to bounce back today with Ross Dillon on the mound. Sinton will counter with Luis Cortez.
   "We lost the road game, but we still feel comfortable because we're going home for the second game," Medina said. "We like the way we play at home, and we feel like we can get back in it there."
  

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Staff writer Matt Young can be reached at 886-3702 or by e-mail at youngm@caller.com

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