Garden City overpowers Lamar

By Mike Pilosof

Photos by Adam Shrimplin

Albuquerque, NM-So far this season, Garden City has proven they can win in many different ways.

Corbin Truslow collected two hits, including the game-winning double to centerfield in the seventh, and the Broncbusters beat New Mexico Military 7-6 to improve to 9-1.

The day started out rather inauspiciously for Chris Finnegan's team.

The Broncos jumped on starter Connery O'Donnell in the first, tagging him for two runs: a Gabriel Torres' RBI double and a run-scoring single by Cedric Reynaud.

The score stayed that way until the fourth when Julian Galindo's sacrifice fly made it 3-0.

The Broncbusters finally answered in the bottom half. Alec Eskenazi ripped a two-run triple before crossing home plate when Tyler Hardwick's curve ball bounced past Reynaud to tie the game at 3. Two innings later, Garden City took what appeared to be a comfortable lead, plating three runs, including Chris Lara's bases-clearing triple that put the road squad up 6-3.

But with one last chance, and down to his final strike, Broncos' shortstop Paulo Rodriguez crushed Jordan Yates' 2-2 fastball over the centerfield wall for a three-run homer that tied the game. Johnnie Nemecek followed with a single, and Torres drove a base hit to center. But as he tried to leg out a double, Eskenazi gunned him down at second base.

That setup Truslow's heroics in the bottom of the seventh.

Sean Klein led off the frame with a walk; then took second on a passed ball. As Truslow dug in, pitcher David Chavez made a costly mistake, leaving a fastball in the zone, which Truslow smoked to center for a walk-off double.

Yates picked up the win in relief for the Broncbusters, yielding two runs on three hits in one inning. O'Donnell started the game, giving up three runs on seven hits in 3.1. He walked three and struck out three.

Chavez took the loss for New Mexico Military, allowing four runs on three hits in one inning while throwing 34 pitches.

Albuquerque, NM-After a dramatic win in their opener, Garden City left no doubt in game two.

Jake Barber finished with three hits, a triple and two RBI, Malachi Crone did damage control on the bump, and the Broncbusters won their seventh straight game with a 12-5 victory over Lamar.

Garden City broke open a scoreless contest in the fourth. With one on and one out, Brett Thompson doubled home Eskenazi. That was followed up by Dylan Rodriguez's run-scoring double, Barber's RBI triple and Klein's extra base hit to the gap that made it 5-0. Truslow closed out the frame with a single on a shallow pop over third basemen Stetson Rio's head, giving the Broncusters a six-run cushion.

Lamar got two runs back in the bottom of the inning when Aaron Faragallah clubbed a two-run homer off of Crone. But the Broncbusters were back at it again in the sixth when Eskenazi's two-out single allowed Klein to score all the way from first.

In the seventh, Rodriguez and Brock Johnson walked before taking advantage of a wild pitch and an error that allowed both to score to make it 9-3.

Lamar plated a run off of reliever Andrew Sumner in the bottom half; then made it a four-run game on Faragallah's double in the eighth. But Garden City left no doubt in the ninth, scoring three more times, capped off when Truslow bounced into an RBI fielder's choice, putting the Broncbusters up 12-5.

In Lamar's half of the ninth, Paxton Robinson worked around a single and a walk to get Rios to bounce into a game-ending double play.

Crone improved to 3-0 on the hill, allowing four runs on six hits in six innings while fanning five. Barber finished 3-for-6 at the plate, and Klein, Eskenazi, Johnson and Rodriguez all collected multi-hit games.

Thomas Braybrooks took the loss for Lamar, allowing six runs over four innings. He didn't get much help from his defense, who committed five errors.