On a typical San Luis Valley day (meaning windy), Timmy Plehinger-Williams likely would have seen his seventh-inning shot sail over Farmer Field's boundary in left and onto bordering Eight Mile Road.
"I just saw a pitch for me to take," he said afterwards, noting the other "hits" he'd gotten in the March 25 non-leaguer came from two misplaced Sargent deliveries. "Took it as best as I could, and it turned out great! I'd been looking for one all game."
"Timmy ... I thought it was gone," said Ignacio teammate Juanito Medina. "But maybe next time. I hope to get there one of these days, hopefully."
With the possible go-ahead run aboard at second, Sargent coach Terry VanBibber instructed junior Ryan Davis, who had two-hit the Bobcats at IHS Field a week before, to intentionally walk senior Zach Weinreich, who'd already ripped two doubles, scored twice and collected two RBIs.
"It was just something I'd been working on all week, trying to get my hands through the ball," Weinreich said. "As big as I am, I should be able to hit something pretty hard. It's starting to come around, I guess."
But with one out, VanBibber's plan threatened to backfire when junior Kai Roubideaux, who'd struck out each of his previous three at bats, worked for an unintentional walk to load the bases for Rendon Mestas, whose first-inning single plated both Plehinger-Williams and Weinreich for an early 2-0 advantage.
But Davis, into his fourth frame relieving starter Trevor Milne (ND; 3 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, HB, 5 K), managed to freeze the sophomore for his ninth strikeout, bringing Medina up with two away.
Bidding for another single to center, Medina cracked a hard but playable grounder to the Farmer shortstop's left. Hoping for a quick flip to second, the fielder forgot to first secure the ball, allowing Roubideaux to hustle safely to the bag. Option No. 2 was a longer throw to get Medina at first, but the senior sped up the line in time.
Meanwhile, Plehinger-Williams (1-1, BB, 2 HBP, 3 R) raced across the plate with the go-ahead run. And though Weinreich (2-3, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), hoping to sneak in an insurance scratch, was retired in a rally-killing rundown between third and home, the reinvigorated visitors had the necessary momentum.
"The top of the seventh kind of gave me the momentum to shut down the game," said Medina. He came in during the third inning to relieve Weinreich (ND; 4 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 HB, 4 K) and faced Sargent's 9-1-2 batters in the inning's deciding half.
Up first was the game's surprise, sophomore catcher Eddie Gonzales, who'd unexpectedly singled and doubled to right off Weinreich but fanned his first time against Medina in the bottom of the fifth when the home side tied the contest at 5-5.
"I basically just relaxed," Medina said of his trip to the pitcher's mound. "Took out the negativity in my head of what was happening next, and thought to myself, 'Just change up the pitches every now and then.'"
"It was keeping us on pins and needles for sure," Plehinger-Williams said of the game's overall intensity. "We were having a rough start at the beginning, but we got into it after our first couple hits."
Sargent's Gonzales went down swinging, and after Davis did likewise, Medina got Hunter Younkerman to pop foul to first baseman Marcus Chapman. That clinched a 6-5 road win and avenged the previous Saturday's 14-0 loss to the Farmers. "I threw a curve ... the last pitch," Medina (W; 3 IP, 3 H, R, 0 BB, 0 HB, 6 K) said, "and got him."
Davis (4 IP, H, R, 4 BB, HB) took the loss for Sargent.
"We didn't hit the ball as good as we did the first time we played," Sargent outfielder Ivan Jimenez said. "Twice we had the bases loaded and just didn't get the big hits we needed - throughout the whole game. I'd say that would be the biggest factor; you don't win a lot of ballgames leaving the bases loaded."
Mestas and Medina each finished 1-for-4 as Ignacio improved to 1-3 (0-0 2A/1A San Juan Basin League), and Chapman was 0-2 but drew two walks and scored once.
"It'll set us off pretty good," said Mestas, looking ahead to IHS' upcoming outings. "We didn't play the best we could play, but we're getting there. We should be good by next game."
"Got the 'W' and that's all that matters," Weinreich said. "Just got to keep working hard."
"Focus more towards base hits," added Medina, "and get on base, get the runs scored - more than (focusing on) the bigger hits that might come every now and then."
Up next, the Bobcats will play a difficult split-site doubleheader on Saturday, April 1. Up first will be a trip to Hotchkiss to face the Bulldogs at noon at HMS, and after the contest concludes Ignacio will pack up for a quick drive to Paonia for a scheduled 3 p.m. start against the Eagles at Volunteer Park.
Hotchkiss stood eighth in the March 27 rankings, while Paonia still held down the No. 1 spot.
