By Cade Haak
TEXARKANA, Texas (July 11, 2024) – The Texarkana Rhinos took the lead away from the TimberHogs in the bottom of the second inning and didn’t look back from that point on as they built on their lead to win 8-4.
The visiting Piney Woods TimberHogs took an early lead when they scored two runs in the top of the second inning due to early pitching struggles from the Rhinos, but the Rhinos retaliated by scoring three runs in the home half of the same inning. Rylan Evans singled to start the inning, then advanced to third on a double down the left field line from Jackson Glymph. Evans then scored as KJ Battles reached first base safely due to an error by the TimberHogs shortstop. Jackson Glymph was then brought home on a balk by the pitcher to tie the game. The third and final run of the inning was then brought home on a single from Yuto Mimura that went directly over the mound and drove home Battles in the process.
In the bottom of the third, the Rhinos then added three more runs to push their lead to 6-2. The three runs came on a single swing as Jackson Glymph doubled the Rhinos run total with a three-run home run that had enough air underneath it to carry over the left field wall.
The next run of the game for the Rhinos came in the bottom of the fifth inning when Rhinos Gabriel Natividad and Rylan Evans hit back-to-back doubles. Evans was able to get the RBI by driving in Natividad for the seventh run of the game.
The next run in the game came when Piney Woods scored two runs on three hits in the eighth inning. After these two runs were scored, the lead was cut to three for the Rhinos as the score moved to 4-7. The Rhinos followed up the two-run inning with a single run of their own to push themselves back to four runs ahead. The run was scored by Neil Jansen, who came in for Eli Selby as a pinch runner after Selby got on due to an error by the shortstop. Jansen was driven in on a single that found a gap on the ground into left field from Gabriel Natividad.
The leading contributor to the Rhinos success was Mason Sellers, who took the mound as a starter. Sellers got off to a shaky start early, allowing two runs in the second inning, but after the early calamity, Sellers settled in and finished the game with 6.0 innings pitched, two hits, and two runs allowed. The only arm to make an appearance for the Rhinos was Chance Reed, who allowed two runs in three innings pitched and finished the game with his first save of the season.
