FARMINGTON - Dylan Evans pitched a gutsy six innings to keep the Thunder in reach, but Tigers' pitcher Rafael Pineda had too much bite on his sweeping curveball for the Four Corners hitters as they fell into the loser's bracket with a 5-0 loss.
The public address announcer asked attendants to "get cozy" before Monday night's game, with the 6,100-seat Ricketts Park packed to capacity. Sadly, the home fans didn't get the show they bargained for in the second round of the 45th annual Connie Mack World Series.
Pineda, a Texas A&M signee who stands 6-foot-4, mystified the Thunder as he struck out 11 and allowed just two hits through six innings. The Thunder scrapped together two brief rallies in the sixth and the seventh, but the Tigers were too much as they consistently threatened.
"We didn't get any runs across, but the guys played hard," Thunder head coach Rob Coddington said of his team, which consists of 11 players from Durango, seven from Farmington and two from Dallas.
"They're a hard-working group of guys," Coddington said. "They kept talking in the dugout, trying to figure it out. They didn't give up."
The Tigers opened the scoring in the top of the first. Second basemen Austin Elkins reached on an error from Four Corners counterpart Morgan McCasland, then the Tigers' Major League Baseball prospect Jacob Morris walked, slugger Chase Durham sacrificed, Jonathan Walsh walked and Brad Picha knocked a blooper into left for a single and a 2-0 lead.
Durango High School product Tyler McKnight led off the bottom of the first with an 0-2 single through the right side. The hope was fleeting, though, as Pineda buckled down and struck out his first of double digits.
"Just a fantastic kid. He's raw. His better days are ahead of him, but he's got a passion for the game, and he loves to compete," Tigers head coach Tommy Hernandez said.
"With the fans, the atmosphere, the excitement, he threw well (Monday). I was proud of him."
Dallas added another run in the third inning, when Walsh singled through the right side of the infield, advanced twice on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, then scored on Drew Verhagen's single up the middle.
Evans, picked up from the Farmington Cardinals before the CMWS, fought valiantly to keep the Division I-talent-laden Tigers from breaking it open, but they added an insurance run in the fifth frame when Walsh, a San Francisco Giants draft pick, doubled and scored his second run, while Verhagen notched his second RBI with a groundout to second.
It became a five-run deficit in the bottom of the sixth. Wes Jones led off the inning with his second double to deep left center, and Morris brought him home on a sacrifice fly to right.
The Four Corners Thunder showed sparks briefly in the sixth when McCasland was plunked by Pineda, and J.T. Bean walked, but former Durango High School catcher Chas Tabone flied out to left center to end the inning.
Fireballer J.T. Autrey came in for Dallas in the top of the seventh, and Jake McCasland met him with a hard liner into center field. Danny Simonson coaxed a walk, and the fans came to their feet in hopes of witnessing a late-night miracle.
Autrey settled in, though, inducing a groundout from pinch hitter Ben Southworth, striking out John Ugai and retiring McKnight on a slow chopper to third to put their second win of the CMWS in the books.
Evans, who will pitch for Mesa State next year, struck out five and allowed seven hits in the loss.
"Dylan threw a heck of a game," Bean said. "That was the perfect guy to throw this game. He was lights out, pretty much. We had errors that gave up probably three of those runs."
Bean had two walks for the Thunder, with Jake McCasland, McKnight and Simonson collecting the only Four Corners hits - all singles.
The Thunder, as the host team, will play in the late game despite moving to the loser's bracket to play another Dallas-area team, the D-Bat Mustangs at 7:30 p.m. today.
The Mustangs were beaten 10-1 by the Florida Legends in the opening round, then beat the Danville Hoots 7-6 in the loser's bracket Sunday.
"I know that they hit the ball really well, just like the Tigers," Bean said. "We were told we just need to put the ball in play and make things happen, and we should be OK."
After the third round, which will be completed today at Ricketts Park in Farmington, pairings will be determined by the official rulebook of the American Amateur Baseball Congress.
The Thunder can still win the tournament, but not if they lose another game.
"They're all must-wins now," Coddington said.
Duarango Herald Aug 11th
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