BASEBALL: Paredes, Horns Shut Down Pearland, State's No. 1 Team
Dobie sophomore Jesse Paredes walks off the field after recording the final out of his two-hit gem against No. 1-ranked Pearland on Tuesday night.
PEARLAND – Dobie seized control of the District 22-5A baseball race in startling fashion on Tuesday night, shutting down Pearland -- the state’s top-ranked team -- 4-1, on the strength of a complete-game two-hitter by sophomore Jesse Paredes.
Paredes’s April Fool’s performance was no joking matter for the home-team Oilers, ranked No. 2 in the nation by one reporting service. The right-hander pitched 4 2/3 innings before allowing a hit. He struck out four, walked four and hit a batter.
Three of the walks and the hit batsman came in the sixth inning and accounted for the Oilers’ only run.
The loss was just the second for Pearland in 24 games this season.
Dobie now sits alone in first place at the halfway point of the 22-5A race with a 7-0 record. The Oilers fell a game back at 6-1.
The Longhorns scored two runs in the fourth inning and two more in the sixth. Senior Travarez Ansley ignited both rallies. He walked and scored in the fourth. In the sixth, he reached on a bunt single and later scored.
The game ended in dramatic fashion. Tyler Kimball greeted Parades in the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff single, only the second hit of the game for the Oilers. The ball caromed high off the mound and into center, leaving Dobie shortstop Tyler Myers with no chance to make a play.
Nathan Carter, next up, hit a similar smash that found smoother terrain. Myers gloved it and started a double play, with Jake Mendoza working the pivot and Ruben Guevara make a smooth scoop out of the dirt at first.
Paredes then got Ryan Diaz on a pop to left fielder Eric Garza to end the game.
The Longhorns broke the ice in the fourth when Ansley walked, stole second, took third on a throwing error and scored on a single by Mendoza down the right-field line. Mendoza scored later in the inning on a single by Tyler Baumann.
Ansley got to the Oilers again in the sixth. He led off with a bunt single to the left of the mound, stole second on a pickoff try, stole third and scored on grounder to shortstop by Guevara that was thrown away at the plate.
A dropped fly ball later in the inning allowed pinch-runner Roland Rocha to score.
Pearland fought back for a run in the bottom of the sixth. But with the bases loaded, Paredes got his starting mound opponent, Jake Crain, on an inning-ending fly to deep right.
Leomanna Martinez, who had just entered the game to allow right-fielder Michael Munoz time to warm up in the bullpen, hauled in Crain’s drive to end the threat.
Ansley lays down a bunt to lead off the sixth inning. The Dobie senior beat out a high throw to first and after a pair of steals, scored the Longhorns' third run.
Paredes breezes through the Pearland lineup in the fourth inning.