By Cade Haak
TEXARKANA, Texas (July 13, 2024) – With six innings in the book, the Rhinos and TimberHogs were neck and neck as both teams had scored nine runs, but in the seventh and eighth innings, the TimberHogs jumped ahead to win by run rule after eight innings.
The Rhinos were the first to score, as they tallied three runs in the home half of the first. Ian Guanzon and Gabriel Natividad were the first two to score as a single into center field by Rylan Evans drove them both home. Next, Evans himself scored after stealing both second and third before crossing home plate on a passed ball.
The Timberhogs then scored three runs in the second to tie the game and followed closely behind with five runs in the top of the third to take their first lead of the game. Texarkana combated this push by the TimberHogs by adding three runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings. In the third, Neil Jansen and Kyle Dekerf both singled to bring in one run, and the third run scored was due to a wild pitch as Neil Jansen scored. In the fourth inning, Rylan Evans hit a sacrifice fly to score Ian Guanzon. Then Neil Jansen did the same with a sacrifice fly into left field to bring in Gabriel Natividad. Jackson Glymph was then scored on a single into the heart of the field by Sebastian Huerta, who scored the ninth and final run of the game and gave them their final lead at the same time.
The rest of the game was all TimberHogs. They scored one in the top of the fifth to tie the game at nine runs each, and then scored eight in the seventh and five in the eighth to give them enough runs to end the game due to the Mid America League run rule.
Texarkana used six different pitchers throughout the game, none of whom could find their rhythm. For PIney Woods, Taven Hathaway carried much of the defensive load as he came in early as a reliever and pitched 4.1 innings, allowing only one single hit to the Rhinos during his time on the mound.
