Submitted by Darren Hamrey
It was a successful weekend for the Mineral County baseball team, barring two losses and adding two more wins to their season total. Success doesn’t always come in the form of wins. Although, this weekend didn’t produce as many in the win column as the boys would have liked, it was a big weekend for many players on the team.
It was Ethan Nelms that drew the start on the hill for the Serpents as they faced the Pahranagat Valley Panthers. Nelms had slight control problems but not enough to alter the game’s ending, giving up just one earned run to the nine scored over four innings. Seven Panthers reached base on an error, which turned the final score for the Serpents upside down. Treven Wachsmuth closed the game. Wachsmuth registered four strikeouts in two innings. Nelms and Wachsmuth gave up a combined five hits in the 13-1 loss for the Serpents.
It was Nelms and Wachsmuth again on the offensive side of the ball that combined for three hits, while Tony Dominguez scored the Serpents’ only run and swiped two more bases.
Game two was a junior varsity game. The younger squad for the Serpents got a chance to show their stuff to the Panthers. The Serps jumped out in front early 3-0, until the 4th inning when the Panthers added a few more. The game ended in a 14-7 loss for the Serpents. Sophomore Glenn Reeves was masterful over three innings on the mound, striking out six and allowing two earned runs. Julio Alvarez came in relief. He struck our four over two innings and gave up three earned runs. Freshman Ryan Jaramillo had a big day at the plate with two hits. Jorden Ferrell registered a hit, and Preston Jaramillo stole two bases. Myron Rogers and Mateo Jimenez both made their season debuts.
Saturday found the Serpents on the road to Lone Pine, California. The Serps succeeded in a come from behind win against the Eagles in the El Capitan Tournament. However, they were not at full strength that game minus Seth Bozzi and Treven Wachsmuth. Saturday, they were much more prepared. Newcomer Gavin Burroughs started on the hill, being his first pitching start in nearly five years.
Burroughs succumbed to fatigue in the second inning but allowed no hits during that time. Phillip Dees came in relief. It was Dees who struggled against the Eagles in that opening game of the season, but this time Dees was out for blood. He struck out five and gave up just one hit and no runs for the remainder of the game as the Serpents ousted the Eagles, 12-2.
Wachsmuth went 2-for-2 with two RBIs and four stolen bases. Nelms roped a double. Bodie Oberhansli scored a hit and Dees had two RBIs, while Seth Bozzi went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
Wachsmuth struck out four and gave up no hits in game two before Tony Dominguez came in relief in the 3rd inning. Dominguez gave up three hits and struck out six, and the duo gave up zero earned runs. Wachsmuth and Bozzi both added two more hits. Burroughs roped a double. Nelms had two RBIs. And Tony Dominguez scored six runs on two hits over the double header, and tied the NIAA single game stolen base record with seven. He had 11 stolen bases on the day. The Serpents open up league play with Eureka on Saturday.
