AC’s Bats Drive Team into Conference Tournament
Angelina College’s Roadrunners closed out the regular season at home on Saturday with a bang – a whole lot of them.
Needing one win in two tries in the day’s twin bill with Paris College to lock down the East Zone’s third seed for the upcoming conference tournament, the Roadrunners eliminated the drama early with a 7-5 win in the opener, following that with a 15-9 win in the nightcap at Roadrunner Field.
Cort McPherson ripped a two-run homer in the first game and followed up with a two-run triple in the late one. Alex Walker added a three-run shot in the late win to help break open a 9-9 tie.
AC trailed 1-0 when McPherson followed Dustin West’s long double off the wall with his seventh homer of the season, launching the ball over the right-field wall.
In the fourth inning, AC’s Chris Estrada drove home two more runs with a bloop double, scoring ahead of Mitch Henshaw’s two-bagger to the wall in left center.
McPherson added another RBI in the sixth with a hit-and-run single, and AC led 7-2 heading into the seventh.
Paris put a scare into the home crowd by scoring three runs in the top of the inning, cutting the ‘Runners’ lead to two at 7-5; but reliever Jared Velasco came on to record the final out to leave AC with the third seed.
Carson Lance earned the win on the mound after allowing two runs over his five innings of work.
The team celebrated Sophomore Day prior to the first game, recognizing those Roadrunners appearing in their final home games. Those included Zach Rome, Dustin West, Alex Walker, Elijah Rodriguez, Daniel Lingua, Reid Garrett, Cort McPherson, Cameron Williams, Chris Estrada, Kevin Roe, Carson Lance and Mitch Henshaw.
The tentative bracket for the Region XIV Conference Tournament has AC facing Alvin College at 1 p.m. on Friday. The tournament takes place at Constellation Field in Sugar Land.
The e-mail address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.
