Perfect game, no-no’s for baseballers

In baseball, defense and pitching go together.

There also are times where hitting falls into the equation. The Gonzales baseball team clicked on all cylinders last week as it posted a pair of lopsided wins over Poteet and Sam Houston, respectively.

“Our bats were hot and that always helps your pitching,” Gonzales coach Larry Wuthrich said.

Gonzales (4-9, 2-1 in District 28-3A) defeated Poteet, 14-0, on March 13 in Poteet before pounding Sam Houston, 22-0, on Friday in Gonzales. The wins also gave the Apaches their first win streak of the season.

In Friday’s win over Sam Houston, Trey Kridler and Joe Ryan Carrizales combined to pitch a no-hitter. Kridler picked up the win on the mound.

Tyler Morgan also hit a homerun in the contest. He had seven hits in the two games combined.

In Gonzales’ win at Poteet, Tyler Janota pitched Gonzales to victory. He struck out seven batters in the win.

The Apaches played at Lehman Monday. They return to action at 7 p.m. Friday at Pleasanton.

St. Paul

Dakota Kresta retired all nine batters that he faced to pick up a perfect game as the St. Paul baseball team pounded San Antonio Atonement, 18-0, Friday at the Shiner Starplex. Kresta struck out seven of the nine batters he faced in the victory, which took just 2 ½ innings to play because of the 15-run rule.

The Cardinals only recorded two hits, but were the beneficiaries of nine walks and eight hit batsmen. Kresta (1-for-1, 2 walks, 4 RBIs) and Brett Hodges (1-for-2, hit batsman, 5 RBIs) led the way offensively for St. Paul (7-6, 4-0 in TAPPS District 4-2A).

Despite not recording a hit, Dylan Barton, Adam Hollenbach, Jared Markham and Laddie Patek all recorded a pair of RBIs each by either walking or getting hit by pitches with the bases loaded. Martin Kennedy also recorded an RBI by drawing a bases-loaded walk.

The Cardinals had a tough time getting the bats going in a 10-6 nondistrict loss to Yoakum Thursday at Yoakum. The game had more of a playoff-warmup feel to it as both teams used a trio of pitchers.

Yoakum scratched a run across the plate in the bottom of the first, and held its 1-0 lead until the fourth when it scored two more to build a 3-0 lead after four innings of play. St. Paul got its bats going in the top of the fifth with a pair of runs to cut the lead to one, 3-2.

But the Bulldogs exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to go up 10-2 after five complete. The Cardinals scored four runs in the top of the sixth, but got no closer.

Kresta led the way for St. Paul as he went 1-for-3 with a sacrifice and three RBIs. Jared Markham (1-for-1, 2 walks, sacrifice, RBI), Dylan Barton (1-for-3, walk, double, RBI) and Adam Hollenbach (1-for-3, walk, RBI) also chipped in offensively for the Cardinals.

St. Paul hosts St. Gerard at 5 p.m. today at the Shiner Starplex.

Shiner

Solid pitching and defense led the Shiner baseball team to a 2-1 finish in the Fayetteville Tournament Thursday- through- Saturday at the Fayette County Fairgrounds in La Grange. The Comanches blasted Milano, 12-0, on Thursday before holding off Ben Bolt, 2-0 Friday, and dropping a 1-0 decision to Fayetteville Saturday in the tournament semifinals.

The highlight for Shiner (7-5-1, 1-0 in District 28-A) was a no-hitter thrown by Zach Reese in the Comanches’ win over Milano. Reese struck out 11 of the 17 batters he faced in the five-inning victory.

Shiner hosts Flatonia at 6 p.m. today at Green-Dickson Park in Shiner.