The Pampa Harvesters (5-4) competed in the Levelland Tournament on March 2-4. Pampa took home two wins in the event. They played two games on Thursday and Friday each and one game on Saturday. Pampa hit the road early Thursday morning with the first game beginning at 11:30 on Thursday.
The first game was hosted by Trinity Christian in Lubbock and Pampa played against Midland Christian. Pampa fell 13-1 in the game as the pitching was not there for the Harvesters and the bats never came alive. Sophomore Judsen Hancock, Senior Michael Campos, and Senior Huston Skinner all recorded hits for the Harvesters in the game. Skinner also recorded a stolen base in the game.
The second game was hosted by Shallowater and Pampa played against Lubbock Estacado. Pampa returned and showed resiliency in this one as they got up on the Matadors early with a 4-0 lead. That would be the final score after the game was called due to sideways rain, wind, and cold temperatures. Sophomore Isaiah Estrada was perfect in his three innings of work on the mound with three strikeouts and only two hits allowed. Sophomore Isaiah Anguiano recorded a hit. Freshman Max Neff had a double as well. Despite the game only lasting three innings, the game ending early would be of benefit to the Harvesters. The reason for the benefit was not having to use up pitches and Estrada was able to take the mound in the next game. UIL has a 110-pitch count for each pitcher for the tournament. Estrada also got the win in the weather-shortened game.
Levelland hosted the third game and Pampa played Big Spring. Pampa fell behind early 1-0 in this one before jumping right back to a 2-1 lead. The Steers took the lead back at 3-2 and never let go the rest of the way. Pampa would fall in this game 7-3 mostly due to errors by the Harvesters. Estrada did great once again for the Harvesters with six strikeouts in four innings of work. He only allowed one earned run as well. Freshman Dalton Booth came in for relief and pitched one inning with zero earned runs and a strikeout of his own. Hancock and Anguiano both had doubles in the game for Pampa. Neff and fellow Freshman Boston Botello each had hits as well. Senior Tyler Reed also recorded a hit in the ballgame.
Levelland hosted the fourth game and Pampa played the host Loboes. This was the best game of the season by far for the Harvesters as they shut out the host team 4-0 behind a complete game and stellar pitching performance from Sophomore Brooks Barton. Barton recorded four strikeouts, only allowed two hits, and pitched all five innings to pick up the win. Barton helped his cause with a hit on offense as well. Another amazing impact Barton made on the offensive end for the Harvesters was he recorded seven walks throughout the tournament. Hancock was 2-3 in the game with a double. Campos and Anguiano each recorded hits as well. Botello did well in the game as he was 2-2 with an RBI also. Botello, freshman Jarren Hill, and Anguiano all recorded stolen bases in the game. For the second day in a row, Pampa showed great bounce-back ability after a tough loss in the previous game by coming back out the next game and shutting out their opponents. Pampa won both the bounce-back games by a combined 8-0.
The final game was hosted by Trinity Christian where the Harvesters again played the host Lions. Everyone in the tournament was worn out by this point with most teams on their fifth game in just three short days. The difference here is Trinity Christian has about double the roster size of Pampa so they just had more pitching arms left. Pampa lost 9-0. Booth did as well as he could for being a freshman making his first start in a varsity game against a good-hitting team. Pampa just could not get a rally going on the offensive end with several times having guys on base but not bringing them home to score. Neff was 2-3 with a double in the game. He and Botello also recorded steals in the game. Hill and Reed recorded the other two hits for the Harvesters in the game.
While the record shows Pampa came out with just two wins to three losses, it was overall a very good tournament for the Harvesters. Pampa is a young team with just three seniors, one junior and the rest are sophomores or freshmen. This was a tournament with good competition and it was a good experience for the young squad.
Pampa is on the road again this weekend in the Bowie Tournament. Pampa had a game against Grand Saline on Thursday night in Bowie. They had two games Friday in Boyd against Parish Episcopal and Boyd. They wrap up the tournament today by playing host Bowie this morning in Bowie. This was another tournament with good teams as Boyd is ranked #17 in the preseason top 25 for 3A. Look for the recap on how that tournament went next week!
Pampa will be back in action at Hereford on Thursday, March 16th for the start of district play. All games are live-streamed on the GameChanger app. You can also catch Jamisen Hancock and Ben Campbell with the radio call for KDRL 103.3 FM. Their radio broadcast will also be broadcast on the live stream.
