(Mazatlán, Sinaloa) In a thrilling game, Tucson clinched the series by defeating Mazatlán 5-4 in extra innings.
With aggressive play, Tucson quickly opened the scoring in the first inning, crossing home plate twice to take a 2-0 lead over the Mazatlán team. José Carlos Ureña hit a ground ball for an out, driving in a run, and Samar Leyva followed suit, hitting a ground ball for a force out, allowing Jesús Fabela to score.
Mazatlán responded in the bottom of the second inning, scoring a run on a sacrifice fly by Brayan Quintero off Dakota Chalmers.
Tucson regained the lead in the top of the third inning with a passed ball by catcher Christopher Escárrega, allowing Samar Leyva to score the third run for Willie Romero’s team.
Photo – Tucson Based Team
Brayan Quintero made it 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Fabricio Macías for Mazatlán.
In the bottom of the eighth, Tucson ran into trouble when Andrés Alvarez was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, allowing Venados to score the tying run at 3-3. It was a small consolation, as they couldn’t capitalize on any further runs, leaving the bases loaded and unable to reach home plate.
In the ninth, Gaige Howard scored the go-ahead run for Tucson on a sacrifice groundout by Ramón Mendoza, giving Arizona a 4-3 lead. In the ninth inning, with two outs and two runners on base, Estamy Ureña singled to drive in Santiago Gómez with the tying run, tying the game at 4. This prompted the removal of Garret Alexander, who couldn’t hold onto the lead his team had given him in the top of the inning.
Extra innings were needed in Mazatlán, and Tucson capitalized on a RBI single by River Town, scoring Edgar Lugo for Tucson’s fifth run. Venados couldn’t get on the board, and the game ended 5-4 in 10 innings. Edwin Valle (2-0) earned the win, pitching one and one-third innings.
Press Release courtesy of the Tucson Baseball Team – Jose Amaro
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