The Tigers suffered their third straight loss on Tuesday night with a 8-4 loss to Rogers.
“We struggled a lot at the plate and got sloppy on the field,” said John Hooser, Rock-dale High School head baseball coach. “Ryker (Zinn) had a rough outing after a good first inning and J.J. (Moreno) came in and threw outstanding.
“We just didn’t make plays behind him. His pitch count went up and they were able to extend innings. Compounding mistakes in the field is what really killed us. We also definitely have to get better with guys in scoring position. Like I’ve said recently, we have to get better at the plate.”
The contest was close early when a Bruce Mayfield single brought in a runner to tie the game at one but the Eagles were able to get the best of Rockdale in the third with four runs started by an RBI-single from Evan Doskocil. A series of walks led to three more runs scored for the Bell County boys, leading 5-2 at the end of the inning.
Rogers held that lead until expanding it to 8-2 in the seventh inning after scoring one in the sixth and two in the next.
In their final at-bat, the Tigers attempted to comeback, scoring two runs but coming up short 8-4.
At the plate, Rockdale was led by Zinn and Zac Davis, having two hits apiece. Mayfield, Moreno and Jackson Perry each had one hit.
On the mound, Zinn pitched 2.1 innings and struck out four and allowed three hits and three walks. Moreno threw seven strikeouts and allowed four hits in 4.2 innings thrown.
The Tigers face the Eagles again on Friday, but this time in Rogers. According to Hooser, his squad will take the next two days making adjustments.
“We’ll more than likely face Trevor Glaser on the mound,” Hooser said. “He’s got a good, hard fastball and a slider.
“So we’ll have to get ready for that.”
Glaser was a relief pitcher on Tuesday night and struck out one.
“We have to change our approach at the plate,” Hooser said. “Even when we’re ahead 2-0 or 3-1 we have to be swinging.
“I also want us to have a little more energy and get better at putting things behind us. When a bad play occurs, we can’t hold on to that, we have to learn to get past that.”
First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
ACADEMY—Over spring break, the Tigers lost to Academy last Tuesday and Wednesday. The Bumblebees defeated Rockdale 5-2 at their lightless field and took down the Tigers 12-6 the next evening in Rockdale after a seven run rally in the top of the seventh inning.
In their first meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the Bumblebees got up early in the game, scoring two in the the second and two in the third.
RHS scored two in the fourth, but weren’t able to overcome Academy in the series opener, losing 5-2.
Zinn, Perry, Moreno, Drayton Castaneda and Tyler Caldwell each had one hit in the game.
Zinn and Moreno both pitched. Zinn started and threw 2.2 innings and struck out two and allowed five hits. Moreno threw 3.1 innings and allowed two hits.
On Wednesday at home, the Tigers fell to the Bumblebees 12-6. Rockdale was behind 5-0 after the first three innings, but bounced back with five runs in the fourth inning led by hits from Perry, Caldwell, Vincent Flores and Javier Moreno.
In the final inning, the Bumblebees had a seven run rally, leading 12-5 and winning the game 12-6 after RHS put up one run.
Davis took the loss with three innings pitched, allowing four hits and striking out three.
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