Broncos Battle Through Wet Conditions to Get First District Win Behind Aschenbeck's RBIs

SONORA, TX-- The Sonora Broncos were able to end a three-game skid with a 10-5 win in wet conditions over the Grape Creek Eagles in District 4-3A play on Tuesday.

The game was initially supposed to be played in Grape Creek, but rain made the Eagle's home field unplayable.

The two teams combined for 13 errors and 14 walks in this game.

"I thought we did really well," said Sonora Head Coach Jay Immel of his team's response to the weather. "It was really tough because it got wet and started to rain pretty hard. It made it tough on the mound because there was a lot of mud. We kept throwing strikes, letting [Grape Creek] hit it and made plays behind [the pitchers]."

Daniel Gonzales started on the mound for Sonora. Gonzales went just three innings wth two batters faced in the fourth for the Broncos leaving him unable to pick up the decision despite exiting with a 6-2 cushion after allowing one hit with five strikeouts. The right-hander also allowed 10 walks in his outing.

Southpaw Jalen Lopez came on in the fourth inning with nobody out and two inherited runners on first and second base. Lopez proceeded to set down the first three batters he faced with a pair of strikeouts in the first inning of relief work.

"I was very happy [with Jalen's performance]," Immel said. "Jalen came in with runners on first and second, no outs, and threw strikes and got [Grape Creek] out. That was huge for that inning. Then he came on in the fifth and the sixth innings and shut them down. Then the seventh, like I said, the rain was a little bit of a problem but he did a great job coming on in relief there."

The sophomore would throw a total of four innings to get the winning decision with five strikeouts, five hits and three runs allowed on his ledger.

On the opposing end, Koby Hasty was charged with the loss for the Eagles in four-and-a-third innings of work where he struck out 11 Broncos but allowed nine runs on two hits and four walks.

Sophomore Brock Aschenbeck led the way offensively for the Broncos with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate and two RBIs from a double to right field in the first inning.

Despite not tallying a hit in four official at-bats, Lopez scored two runs to help out Sonora's cause. Hunter Bunch went 1-for-3 at the plate with three runs scored and an RBI for Sonora.

Grape Creek's Jorge Rodriguez also produced offensively without recording a hit. Rodriguez tallied two RBIs thanks to an error by Sonora's shortstop Hunter Bunch in the seventh inning to cut the Bronco's lead to 10-4.

"[The win] is huge," Immel exclaimed. "We didn't play very well last Friday. And, today, I think we saw that we can play baseball. I think the kids are starting to figure it out and that will be huge going further into district."

The win moves the Broncos (4-5, 1-2) to within a half-game back from fourth-place Reagan County. With a Reagan County loss on Wednesday, the Broncos could be tied for fourth heading into their home matchup against the Owls on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Grape Creek (1-8, 0-3) travels to Ballinger on Thursday for a 7 p.m. game.