Another busy week of Angelina College Athletics provided a little of everything, with both AC soccer teams hosting key conference matches on both Tuesday and Friday and the AC softball and baseball teams getting in some diamond work.
Following is a recap of the week, along with upcoming events.
AC Soccer:
The Lady Roadrunners and No. 7 Roadrunners hosted nationally ranked Tyler Junior College squads on Tuesday. The short-handed Lady ‘Runners fell 5-1 to the Apaches, with AC’s Camilla Bedin scoring the team’s only goal with a penalty kick in the 82nd minute. On the plus side, two of the Lady Roadrunner softball players – Emily Lowe and Lorelei Graham – who recently joined the soccer team to shore up the short-handed soccer roster saw real action for the first time.
In the nightcap, the 7th-ranked Roadrunners and 10th-ranked Apaches battled to a 1-1 draw in a physical match. AC’s Kaito Ueki scored in the 40th minute, but Tyler answered early in the second half, and the Roadrunners just couldn’t get shots to find the net the rest of the way.
On Friday, the Lady ‘Runners dropped a 2-0 decision to first-place Blinn College.
In the men’s match, AC scored a pair of goals in a 90-second span, then responded to Blinn’s equalizer in the second half with a quick goal on the way to a 4-2 win over the Bucs.
Blinn took a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute, but the ‘Runners answered with two quick goals. Luan Rangel took a perfect cross from Omar Mora to drill home a shot in the 25th minute, and Kaito Ueki outmaneuvered both a Buc defender and the keeper for a nifty goal just 90 seconds later.
A Blinn penalty kick evened the score at 2-2 early in the second half, but again the Roadrunners answered. Lennar Poth ripped a long shot that deflected off a Buc’s head and hit the back of the net in the 58th minute to regain the AC lead. In the 76th minute, Mora performed a balancing act to avoid a slew of Buccaneer defenders to blast home an impossible goal for the winning margin. The Roadrunners (4-0-1) still haven’t lost a match this season.
AC’s soccer teams some much-needed time off this week. The men travel to Beeville to face first-place Coastal Bend Community College, while the women won’t play again until Oct. 3 in a road doubleheader at Texas Southmost Community College.
AC Softball Hosts 2nd Annual Alumni Game
Teams of former and current Lady Roadrunner softball players squared off on Saturday in the 2nd Annual Alumni Game, with the veterans showing the youngsters how they did it back in the day. The final score was…well, whatever. The players had a blast, and the new Lady ‘Runners showed they’ll lead the league in smack talking once the spring season arrives.
The vets showed they’ve still got it, and the youngsters made several highlight reel plays to show off things to come.
Former Lady Roadrunners flashing their skills on Saturday included Megan Kirchhoff, Gianna Wade, Hailey Fuentes, Ashtyn Alvarez, Alyssa Collazo (whose sister Brianna is a member of the current squad), Bailey Frenzel (who bashed five homers in the game) and Brette Kohring.
On a side note, the Lady Roadrunners have added several games to their Fall Ball schedule. Make sure you check the web site for the updated schedule.
Roadrunner Baseball Sends Three To JUCO All-Star Game
Three Roadrunner baseball players had the honor of participating in last week’s Texas/New Mexico JUCO All-Star game in Dallas. All three made impressions on both the attending fans and scouts.
Garrett Nail, a sophomore right-handed pitcher from Sweeny, Texas finished his 2023 Roadrunner campaign having struck out 55 hitters in 62.2 innings pitched.
Sam Hardcastle, a sophomore third baseman from Foster High School in Texas, batted .300 in 2023 with 21 RBI.
Dalton Mullins, a sophomore outfielder from Baytown Sterling High School in Texas, hit .368 with 27 RBI in his freshman season as a Roadrunner.
All three players earned Region XIV All-Conference honors following the 2023 season.
Basketball Schedules Posted for Viewing
Both the Lady Roadrunner and Roadrunner basketball schedules are now posted on the AC Athletics web site (angelinaathletics.com). October will feature pre-season games; in fact, the Roadrunner men host Jarvis College in a scrimmage scheduled for 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 18.
Yes, we’re that close to basketball season.
Don’t blink around here. Stuff happens way too fast.
Remember, you can keep track of all schedules, results and news items by visiting the Angelina College Athletics web site (angelinaathletics.com) and by following on Facebook (Angelina College Athletics) or Twitter (@ACAthletics).
See you at the games.
