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Wednesday, April 4, 2001
Moody moves past King, 15-8
Trojans, Mustangs combine for 27 hits
By Lee Goddard
Caller-Times
Moody High School baseball coach Steve Castillo removed his cap, brushed back his hair and declared it had been ages since he had seen a game like the one his team had just finished playing against King.
Moody had just scored seven runs in the sixth inning to get the victory, the third time Tuesday night that the Trojans had rallied against the Mustangs. But Castillo wasn't praising the excitement of the game. Or the way his Trojans had fought.
He was bemoaning their inexperience.
Moody had committed three errors but prevailed, as King made four - including two in the sixth - in the Trojans' 15-8 victory at Cabaniss Field.
Still, the win left Castillo less than satisfied.
"I hadn't seen a game like that in a long time," he said. "It's been at least eight years. It's the inexperience of the team."
One wonders what Castillo would have said had his team not taken advantage of King in the sixth.
With the score tied 8-8, Arnold Meza led off the inning with a single flared down the right-field line off the end of his bat.
"I was just trying to get on and score a run," Meza said. "The first pitch, I had to take it somewhere. It was just about me getting on, so we could score some runs."
While the Trojans (18-4-1, 6-1) amassed 15 hits during the game, Meza made it home without the benefit of a Moody hit.
He took second on a bunt, moved to third on a wild pitch and then came home when King pitcher Christian Ayers tried to pick Ramsey Recio off first, but fired wildly beyond the bag.
Everything then went wrong for King (11-8-1, 4-3). While Meza batted around and closed the scoring with a two-run triple, in between the Mustangs seemingly did everything to give Moody insurance runs.
There was a pair of walks, a hit batter, a passed ball and a suicide squeeze by Eddie Vasquez that sent two runners home when reliever Milo Salazar threw errant to first.
"In this district, whenever they give you the chance to win, you better take it," Castillo said. "Anybody can beat you in this district. It's not over yet."
With the seven-run cushion, Moody's Isaac Cantu (7-2) - who entered the game in the fourth - shut down King in order for only the second time in the game and preserved the win.
The victory ends the first round of District 29-5A play with Ray - which defeated the Trojans in district play - and Moody having one district loss apiece. Carroll is in sole possession of third with two district setbacks, while King and McAllen Rowe round out the upper half of the district with three losses.
Before the breakthrough in the sixth, the teams traded rallies in a game that featured 27 total hits. Moody grabbed a 4-2 lead in the second after a two-run double by Michael Cantu. King struck back with six in the fourth - three off a home run by John Alvarez - only to be tied by Moody in the bottom of the inning when Andrew Casares drilled a three-run shot of his own.
King 200 600 0- 8 12 4
Moody 040 407 x-15 15 3
Matt Price, Christian Ayers (4), Milo Salazar (6) and Cory Jacobi. Noe Martinez, Isaac Cantu (4) and Arnold Meza. W - Cantu (7-2). L - Ayers. Records - King, 4-3 district, 11-8-1, 4-3; Moody, 18-4-1, 6-1. HR - King, John Alvarez; Moody, Andrew Casares.
Staff writer Lee Goddard can be reached at 886-3613 or goddardl@caller.com
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a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.
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