Bishop Badger Baseball completes comeback, wins playoff series over Banquete
The Bishop Badgers are moving on the Regional Semi-Finals in the Class 3A playoffs after defeating the Banquete Bulldogs in a three game series, 2-1.
The Badgers will be facing Yoakum in their next series, the same team they played in the same round in 2019. The Badgers won that series in a 2-0 sweep.
GAME 3 (Saturday, May 21, evening)
Game three was a nail biter to behold in the final moments, as the Badgers and Bulldogs threw everything at each other, with the result being a 5-4 win for Bishop.
In the second inning, Marcos Hernandez hit a ground ball that escaped the infield and allowed Manny Pina to score to give the Badgers an early 1-0 lead.
The Bulldogs would match in the inning to follow, after an error on a throw from Taylor Crozier to Tye Odom allowed Manuel Flores to tie things up for Banquete.
Noah Jasso would hit a single in the next inning to get Odom across the plate after he hit a lead-off triple to open the frame, putting the Badgers back on top, 2-1.
Ruben Rendon drove in a run in the bottom of the fifth on a double, and an error in the same inning allowed him to tap the dish to put the Badgers up 4-1.
However, in the the top of the sixth, Banquete’s Nate Herrera and Mason Vasquez had back-to-back singles with runners on the bases to draw the game to a tie at 4-4.
In the bottom of the sixth, Taylor Crozier hit a double into left field, which allowed DJ Reyna to cross the plate as the game-winning run, sealing the series for the Badgers.
Badger Head Coach Mike Medina said the feeling was “indescribable” when Crozier caught the final out in game three, completing the Badgers comeback.
“This team of men, really got to see that when you really buy into something, you do have a result that you want,” Medina said of the series win. “Even though you can't be thinking of the result as it's going on, you got to stay simple. Taylor (Crozier) made that great play, and (we felt) just relief jubilation and gratification. We’re humbled to be moving on representing 30-3A in the fourth round.”
Highlights from games one and two are below.
GAME 2 (Saturday, May 21, afternoon)
The Badgers let their bats do the talking in game two, clinching a run-rule win over the Bulldogs, 11-1, to push the series to a decisive game 3.
Jasso led the way for the Badgers with two hits for three RBI’s and crossed the plate twice for Bishop in the game. He hit a bases loaded double that scored Manny Pelagio, Odom and Crozier to open up the offense for Bishop in the fourth inning.
Marcos Hernandez and Ruben Rendon shared the same stat line in game two, each player having two hits for two RBI’s and a run scored.
GAME 1 (Thursday, May 20)
The first of the three games was a close one, 2-3, with the Badgers falling behind after the first inning of play. The Bulldog’s Mason Vasquez hit a three-run double off the outfield wall, which tallied Banquete’s only runs of the contest.
Taylor Crozier crossed the plate to score on an error in the fourth, and Noah Jasso hit a double for an RBI to give the Badgers their two runs of the matchup.