By Cade Haak
SHERMAN, Texas (July 3, 2024) – Game one of five between the Texarkana Rhinos and Sherman Shadowcats went in favor of the Rhinos, as they scored seven runs in the final two innings to close out the game with a 14-8 win.
Both teams scored their first runs of the game in the third inning. The Rhinos scored two runs in the top of the third. The first was scored when Alex DeLeon was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, which scored Ian Guanzon. Their second run came across due to a passed ball that allowed Gabriel Nativitdad to cross home plate safely. The Shadowcats did not allow this lead to last long for the Rhinos, as they scored five runs on four hits in response in the bottom of the third and then added two more to their total as Korson Hastings hit a shot over the outfield wall to clear Easton Ford off the bases.
The Shadowcats held onto their one-run lead for just one inning before the Rhinos responded in the top of the sixth. In the top of the sixth, Texarkana was able to create a two-out rally in which they scored five runs and battled all the way back to tie the game. The first of the five runs scored this inning by the Rhinos was by Sloan Laird. Laird scored on a single that Ian Guanzon batted into right field. Next, after Natividad was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Rylan Evans showed plate discipline and drew a walk to bring in the second run. Directly following Evans’ walk, Neil Jansen did what he does best and crushed a ball past the right fielder and turned the well-hit ball into a base-path-clearing triple to tie the game.
The top of the eighth inning saw a similar process from the Rhinos; their first two at-bats resulted in strikeouts, and then the team was able to put together another rally to score two runs. With the two outs, Neil Jansen and Alex DeLeon both walked to get on, then Sloan Laird hit a ball to the second baseman, who committed an error, allowing Laird to reach first safely and Jansen and DeLeon to score. Sherman scored one singular run in the home half of the eighth inning, but the ninth saw the Rhinos final push prove to be too much to handle.
To kick off the final frame of the night, Ian Guanzon and Evans both singled, then, with two outs, Neil Jansen doubled his RBI total on the game by hitting a three-run shot over the outfield fence to push the rhinos lead to four. Texarkana then capped off their night by adding two final insurance runs when the Shadowcats center fielder committed an error on a ball hit by Sebastian Huerta. This error allowed the last two runs of the ball game to score.
The win will go onto the stat sheet of Chance Reed, his second of the season. Reed came in as a middle reliever, but the Rhinos took and held onto the lead during his 2.1 innings pitched.
