Gritty Denver City baseball staves off elimination, downs Abernathy

WOODROW — Chris Gonzales always has a plan.

On Friday night, the Denver City coach had to explain it to a group of more than 10 players that were not in the mood to hear much after dropping the first game of a Class 3A area round series to Abernathy.

Despite the upset minds, Gonzales was able to impart some knowledge that did stick.

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"The beautiful part about this game is the sun rises up the next morning and you get to play again," Gonzales said.

The Mustangs got a chance to atone for the loss — doing that and more by securing wins of 17-13 and 9-6 over the Antelopes to nab the series win Saturday inside First United Park.

More important, Denver City kept its season alive.

"I knew after Game 1, if we could win Game 2 and force them into Game 3, I knew we could find a way," Gonzales said. "Our guys: they fight. And that's what I love about them.

"They're going to battle and get 21 outs. We struggled just a little bit at the plate in Game 1 and we struggled a little bit in Game 2. But, I felt like we hit the ball better and we capitalized in those at-bats, and off their errors, in Game 3."

Erik Estrada, who turned in a stellar Saturday that included driving in five RBI, admitted going to bed the night prior was a chore in itself.

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"You go home and, overnight, you just keep thinking that you need to win this first game (on Saturday)," said Estrada, who went 3-for-6 with one double in two games Saturday. "That's what we did today. We came out (Saturday) and played baseball."

In the third contest, the Mustangs turned things in their favor in the second inning.

After a pop fly led to the first out, Jacen Yanez reached first on a throwing error by shortstop Jess Hoel and allowed Isreal Gandara to advance to third base.

Daniel Ceniceros drew a four-pitch walk before Enrique Banuelos recorded a two-RBI single to left field that broke the 0-0 stalemate and set the stage for more offense. 

With the two-run lead, Estrada hit a grounder and reached first base on the second error by Hoel which also allowed two more runs to cross home plate toward the 4-0 lead to end the top half.

The Mustangs widened the scoring gap to 9-2 after the top of the seventh, but the Antelopes pushed across four runs — and had chances to score more — but were unable to engineer a late-game rally.

"It was just one of those days where it was tough to be a pitcher," said Abernathy coach Colby Chandler, who is scheduled to become the new baseball coach at West Plains  High School in Canyon ISD. "It didn't matter if it was us or them, a lot of balls were hit hard by both teams. 

"Just a hard-fought series and I'm proud of my guys for not laying down and fighting until the last pitch."

Camden Huse, who came on in relief to shut the door for Denver City in both contests, was pleased to be able to complete the sweep. But the sophomore right-handed hurler admitted there was some anxiety after he was called in.

"I was a little bit nervous because it was a tough situation," Huse said, cracking a smile. "But, I had to do a job. And I was called in and did it.

"It feels great."

The second game was a much different game due to a litany of base-running blunders, passed balls and wild pitches that led to extra offense for both squads.

Despite all that, the Mustangs found enough offense in the bottom of the fifth in the form of two doubles to take a lead they never relinquished in a 17-13 victory over the Antelopes in the second contest to force a decisive third game in a Class 2A area round series.

A pair of doubles by Estrada and David Escobar, who combined for four RBI as part of a game-changing inning that saw seven runners cross the plate, helped the Mustangs secure a 16-9 advantage after five complete.

"It just made us keep going and going," Estrada said of the offensive slugfest in the second game. "But, it was close the whole way and they had a really good pitcher that shut us down for a bit. But then we started to get hits off him and put good at-bats together."

Miles Riley, who was efficient with about 84 pitches through five innings, started to miss his spots after the Denver City offense put up a seven-spot.

"Riley, he's a heckuva kid and does a really good job for us," Gonzales said of Riley's effort, which included pitching six innings and keeping the Mustangs within striking distance before Huse came in and shut the door in the seventh of Game 2. "He went the distance and he was the deciding factor.

"We forced their guy to pitch to us, and it took him a while to get into his groove. And when he did, he shut us down. But we made adjustments."

And thanks to that approach, the Mustangs found a way to force a decisive Game 3 and will advance to the regional quarterfinals for the second straight year.

Gonzales loves when a plan comes together.

What's next?

Denver City is scheduled to take on Idalou in the Region I-3A quarterfinals. A time, date and location were not available by press time.

With the loss, Abernathy's season is over as the Antelopes were looking to advance to the regional quarterfinals for the first time since the program competed in 2A back in 2018.

DENVER CITY 17, ABERNATHY 13

Game 2

Abernathy    303    212    2 —    13    12    2

Denver City    304    271    x —   17    13    5

Jess Hoel, Jaxson Hoel (5), Levi Carrillo (5), Alan Macias (6) and Tanner Timms. Miles Riley, Camden Huse (7) and Omar Larrea. W — Riley. L — Jess Hoel. 2B — Abernathy, Jess Hoel 1, Tanner Timms 1, Jaxson Hoel 1; Denver City, Erik Estrada 1, David Escobar 1, Israel Gandara 1. 3B — Abernathy, Tanner Timms 1, Levi Carrillo 1, Brayden Vanstory 1; Denver City, Isreal Gandara 1. Records: Abernathy 18-8; Denver City 16-10-1.

DENVER CITY 9, ABERNATHY 6

Game 3

Denver City    040    003    2 —    9    8    2

Abernathy    010    100    7 —   6    10    4

David Esboar, Camden Huse (7) and Omar Larrea. Hayden Vanstory, Riley Rivera (6) and Tanner Tims. W — Escobar. L — Vanstory. 2B — Denver City, Omar Larrea; Abernathy, Riley Rivera. 3B — Denver City, None; Abernathy, Jess Hoel (2), Tanner Timms 1, Landry Miller (2). Records: Denver City 17-10-1; Abernathy 18-9.