By Cade Haak
SHERMAN, Texas (July 7, 2024) – Rhinos scored seven runs against the Shadowcats in Sherman to win game five and the series as a whole, four games to one.
Neither team was able to score for the first two innings of play, but the story changed in the third as both teams were able to break into the scoring column. The Rhinos lone run in the third came in the form of a home run by Rylan Evans, but this fresh lead for the Rhinos did not last long due to the Shadowcats quickly scoring two runs of their own.
In the fifth inning, the Rhinos took their second lead of the game as they racked up four runs in the inning. The first run of the fifth came when Neil Jansen grounded out to the third baseman, and Sota Suzuki scored in the process. The rest of the three runs came in the next at-bat when Jackson Glymph cleared the bases with a three-run bomb that carried over the left field wall.
The Rhinos continued to grow their lead over the next two innings, as they were able to score one run in both the sixth and seventh innings of the game. In the sixth, Ian Guanzon was hit by a pitch and then stole second just before a single from Rylan Evans found a gap into left field and brought Guanzon across for the Rhinos. In the seventh, the Rhinos quickly got Jackson Glymph and Sloane Laird on the bases by getting singles. Then Sota Suzuki drew a walk to load the bases, and Ian Guanzon hit a single into shallow left to score Glymph to put the Rhinos run total at seven.
The Shadowcats offered up one final go at completing a comeback in the latter half of the second inning, but were only able to score three runs in the effort to set the game score at 7-5 in favor of Texarkana, which would end up being the final score of the game.
Zach Andrews walked away from Sherman with his first win of the season under his belt after he allowed just four hits and two runs in six innings pitched. The Rhinos used two other pitchers to help close out the game, and it was Jaren Jackson who closed out the evening by allowing just a single hit in his two innings pitched to help the Rhinos hold on to their lead for the win.
