Broncbusters split final two with New Mexico Military

By Mike Pilosof

Roswell, NM-Garden City split the final two of their four-game series with New Mexico Military on Saturday, taking game one 6-4 and losing the finale 9-5.

In the opener, Jacob Douglas pitched a complete game, allowing four runs on seven hits and striking out four. And other than the first and third innings, the freshman hurler was rock solid.

It helped that the offense spotted him an early lead. Corbin Truslow's two-run homer in the first, coupled with Darian Burns' RBI single gave the Broncbusters a 3-0 advantage. But Douglas got into some hot water in the bottom half, when he allowed a leadoff single, a walk and a two-run double to Bobby Galindo that cut the lead to 3-2.

Griff Brunson extended Garden City's advantage to 4-2 in the second when he slapped a base hit to center that scored ReJean Bourget. But the Broncos battled back to tie it an inning later when Galindo and Luis Rivera tagged Douglas for back-to-back RBI singles.

Garden City went back in front in the fourth once Robbie Young grounded into a double play that allowed Ty Lightley to score from third. The Broncbusters then added an insurance run in the seventh when Truslow mashed his second homer of the day to dead center.

The Broncos got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but Douglas got Cedric Reynaud to ground out to short to end the game.

New Mexico Military starter Ricky Roybal lasted only three innings. He allowed five runs on six hits and walked four.

In game two, Garden City was cruising early. Truslow hit an RBI single in the first, Clint Allen doubled home two in the second followed by Brunson's RBI groundout that gave starter Ryder Yakel a 4-0 cushion.

New Mexico Military slowly chipped away. Luis Rivera knocked in one with a base hit in the bottom of the fourth. Then, after Garden City added a run in the fifth when Burns singled home Young, the Broncos answered with a three-run bottom half, sparked by Reynaud's three-run double that cut the Broncbusters lead to 5-4.

But Garden City lost the game in the eighth. Reliever AJ Stephens issued a bases-loaded walk before being yanked for Danny Danny Weagle, who promptly gave up a two-run single to Miguel Soto. Hunter Cleveland followed with a sacrifice fly, and Galindo ripped a run-scoring double that pushed the New Mexico Military lead to 9-5.

The Broncbusters went down in order in the ninth.

Paxton Robinson took the loss for Garden City, pitching 1/3 of an inning, allowing two runs on one hit. Yakel started the game and yielded four runs on six hits. He fanned two.

Angel Lebron picked up the win for New Mexico Military, pitching 2 2/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing just one hit.

Next up: Garden City at Lamar-Wednesday, Feb. 21-time to be announced