Banquete storms back late to advance to 3A state championship
After 4 innings of Wednesday’s class 3A state semifinal, it appeared that the Bulldogs of Banquete were in control of the game. Banquete had just scored 3 runs in the top of the 4th and had a comfortable 7-1 lead. However, that is why 7 innings are played, which allowed Van Alstyne to come all the way back to tie the game in the 7th (7-7) before taking it in the 8th, 8-7.
Banquete started their scoring run early with 2 runs in the first thanks to a Anthony Gomez single and an error on the second baseman. Van Alstyne was able to cut that lead in half in the 2nd, as Anthony Novillo would ground out to second, scoring Jake Hillebrenner.
Banquete would score 5 unanswered runs in the 3rd and 4th. Richard Sanchez and Gomez both started the inning off with walks. A Jake Mijares double and Cooper Wildman single would drive in two runs. In the 4th, a Sanchez RBI single and Mijares 2 RBI single would increase the lead all the way up to 7-1.
That is when Van Alstyne would start chipping away at the lead. A combination of singles from JD Frazier and Coleman Sanford would draw the Panthers to 7-3 in the 5th.
The lead would be down to 2 after the 6th off of a pair of singles, this time coming off the bats off Trey Jones and Bailey Jay. Van Alstyne would dramatically tie the game up in the 7th. The Panthers would quickly get 2 outs and have no body on base. Back-to-back singles from Luke Hundt and Bryce Curtius would put runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. That is when Jon Burge would hit a shallow fly ball to center. Both the Banquete center fielder and left fielder where charging for the ball and collided. The ball ended up on the ground, and allowed both runners to score and send the game to extra innings.
In the 8th, Jones would walk for Van Alstyne and Bryce Moody would move him to second with the sacrifice bunt. Frazier would then send a ball to second that could not be handled, allowing Jones to score – and sending the Panthers to the state championship.
Top Hitting Performances
Will Jones, Van Alstyne, 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI
Jon Burge, Van Alstyne, 3-4, 2 RBI (2-out game tying hit in the 7th)
Anthony Gomez, Banquete, 3-4, 1 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI
Jake Miraes, Banquete, 2-5, 1 2B, 3 RBI
Top Pitching Performances
Bailey Jay, Van Alstyne, 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 2 K
Bryce Curtius, Van Alstyne, 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
| Banquete | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
| Van Alstyne | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 2 |
