Photos: Raul Avila's walk-off hit lifts Laredo St. Augustine over Laredo LBJ
LAREDO, Texas - Raul Avila ripped an RBI single to lift Laredo St. Augustine to a 4-3 victory over Laredo LBJ at the Laredo ISD Hardball Classic Saturday afternoon at Veteran’s Field.
With two outs in extra innings, Avila took a 1-1 pitch and drilled the ball to the outfield to score Andres Pecina for the winning run.
Laredo LBJ outhit Laredo St. Augustine 9-4, but the Knights made the most of every hit.
Laredo LBJ took an early 1-0 lead when Emiliano Terrazas ripped a single to score Eleazar Nino.
Laredo St. Augustine could not get anything going in the opening inning but finally found their footing in the second inning when they strung together their best offensive stretch. Jacob Garcia got things rolling with a hard single to the outfield and it was followed by a single by Juan Gonzalez. Mario Gonzalez followed with a single to load the bases for Jesus Ortiz. He drew a walk as Garcia scored Laredo St. Augustine’s first run.
Leadoff batter Andres Pecina then ripped a two-run single to score Juan Gonzalez and Mario Gonzalez and give Laredo St. Augustine a 3-1 lead.
Laredo LBJ stormed back in the third inning to tie the game at 3-3 when Juan Ramirez ripped a two-run single to score Nino and Jorge Rodriguez.
A pitching duel ensued over the next three innings between Laredo St. Augustine’s Ponchito Gonzalez and Laredo LBJ’s Juan Ramirez.
With the game tied at 3-3, they went into extra innings. The Wolves threatened in the top half of the inning, but the Knights were able to get out of a jam and turned a double play.
In the bottom half, Avila came to the plate with two outs and Pescina standing on second base. He laced a 1-1 pitch to the outfield to end the game.
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