Apaches eliminated from playoff contention

GONZALES — In a must-win game at home against Austin Eastside Memorial (2-6), the Gonzales Apaches (0-7) were unable to dig out of a four-run hole they set in the third inning, ultimately losing 6-1 to the Panthers in their home finale. The loss officially eliminates the Apaches from playoff contention. Despite out-hitting the Panthers 6-4, the Apaches stranded 10 men on base, nine in the final four innings.

“That’s going to hurt you,” Gonzales’ head coach Lance Alford said of the stranded men. “Missed a couple of balls, should have been outs, they wouldn’t have scored that many. It would have been closer. We’re young but we’re learning. They’re getting better. Great effort. Good energy by the guys. This was their chance to get into the playoffs and they fought hard, things didn’t go our way.”

Tanner Blundell took to the mound as the starter. Alford intended on senior ace Kolby Kifer to start, but Kifer didn’t make it to the field until right at game time.

“He was late coming in from Corpus Christi for regionals [in golf],” Alford explained. “He showed up right at game time, so I had to make the switch. I put in Tanner and Tanner didn’t do bad. He lost a little bit of control in that one inning, so that’s when I decided to make the switch and bring Kifer in, to see if we can shut them down. Ground ball here, ground ball there, fly ball catch and we’re good, but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be tonight.”

Blundell struck out four in the first two innings, but then lost a bit of his control in the third. He’d finish his outing pitching 2.1 innings, giving up one hit, four walks, three earned runs and striking out five batters. Kifer came in and finished the rest of the game, giving up three hits and one earned run while striking out five.

The multi-sport athlete impressed, after playing 36 holes of golf as a vital part of the Apaches golf team that qualified for the state meet.

“[Kifer] played 36 holes of golf the past two days, drove all the way from Corpus, got out the car, came in and pitch,” Alford said.

At the plate, senior Alex Ortiz led the way with two hits, going 2-for-4 with a double. Kifer, Blundell, Diego De Leon and Matthew Velasquez-Banda also came away with hits.

“When [Ortiz] hits the ball, it’s exciting,” Alford noted. “He’s got something you can’t coach, he’s got that speed, which he’s going to regionals in track this weekend, he’s not going to be at the game on Friday. He helped us out so much with his speed and his bat too, his bat has come around in some clutch situations.”

The head coach also gave props to his other senior, Kifer, who “competes hard.”

“You never have to worry about either one of them going out and competing with everything they got. They carried us as seniors.”

Despite the 3-18 overall record, Alford knows that his team of freshmen and sophomores are playing the best game they’ve played all season long.

“[They’re] young. But you know what, they stuck it out.” He said. “It would have been really easy to say ‘coach, I’m done’ and then walk away and not finish the season, but they didn’t, they stuck with it.

This game will expose your weaknesses if you have any and we’re 3-18 right now. Some people can’t overcome that, but these guys did, they stuck it out and that’s what I’m really proud of, just the way they hung in there and competed until the end.”

“We’re a lot better than when we started out,” he continued. “We’re finishing strong, we really are. Got a lot of kids out there that probably aren’t shaving, so they’re doing good. We’re going to be OK. The future is bright.”

The Apaches take on Navarro tonight on the road at Geronimo, but the team is already looking forward to next season after a year’s worth of varsity experience.

“Wait until next year when these kids grow up a little bit and spend some time in the weight room and play a little more ball,” Alford said. “This group is going to be all right and it’ll be us celebrating getting into the playoffs next year. We’re going to make it happen. They know it. They got a year under their belt now. It’s going to be fun next year.”

First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. 

ESHS    004 101 0 – 6 4 1

GHS     000 100 0 – 1 6 2