PLAINVIEW — The Pampa Harvesters (15-12) had their season come to a close on Saturday afternoon after falling to Estacado 2-1 (5-3, 2-4, 5-6) in a three-game series in the Bi-District round of the 4A playoffs.
“Our kids fought their tails off,” Head Coach Austin Samulowitz said. “They were put in a ton of tough situations and I felt like they were very successful. Estacado did a great job, you’ve got to give them credit and can’t take anything away from them. We just couldn’t get the big hit when we needed one.”
The losses put a cap on a season where 10 seniors shined throughout the year.
“A lot of these guys were three-year varsity starters,” Samulowitz said. “I was very lucky to have them in my first year (as a head coach). They were great at leading the program and I am going to miss them.”
The Harvesters finished the regular season second in District, after winning a tie-breaker seeding game against Dumas.
“Baseball is awesome. Spring time in Texas is awesome,” Samulowitz said. “You get to play baseball three or four times a week. It’s great. I have a ton of good memories with those guys and I hope they cherish them.”
The Harvesters bunted their way to the 5-3 win Friday, with senior Jade Ward putting the ball in the ground and setting up junior Michael Campos for the dash to home. Senior Cayson Steward’s at bat saw Jade Ward take second on an error followed by a bunt from Steward to put Ward 90 feet from home. Ward came home on a passed ball by Estacado and extended Pampa’s lead to 5-3.
The Harvesters dropped game two 4-2 on Saturday afternoon, but took a 3-1 lead in Game 3 after a line drive from Senior Hunter Nichols scored Miranda. The Harvesters pushed that lead to 4-1 later in the third inning when Nichols scored on a passed ball.
The Matadors took a 5-4 lead later in the inning until Nichols hit a ground ball to score Isaiah Anguiano and tie the game at 5-5.
Estacado went on to take a 6-5 lead and the series win.
Stat round-up - Game 1
Hunter Dyer went 1-4; Armando Miranda went 3-3 with a run scored and a walk; Sam Anguiano went 2-3 with a run scored and a double; Hunter Nichols had an RBI; Michael Campos went 1-3 with a run scored; Jade Ward went 1-2 with two runs scored and a walk; Cayson Steward went 1-1 and Troy Perez went 1-3 with an RBI.
Stat round-up - Game 2
Hunter Nichols pitched 5.2 innings with five hits, four runs, two earned runs, three strikeouts and five walks; Jade Ward pitched .1 innings.
Armando Miranda went 1-3 with a run scored; Sam Anguiano drew a walk; Hunter Nichols went 1-3; Tyler Reed had a run scored; Michael Campos went 1-3 with two RBI; Rhett Hill went 1-3.
Stat round-up - Game 3
Tyler Reed pitched five innings with three hits, five runs, three earned runs, seven strikeouts and five walks; Rhett Hill pitched one inning with a run and a strikeout.
Hunter Dyer went 1-3 with two walks; Armando Miranda went 2-4 with a run scored; Hunter Nichols went 3-4 with two runs scored, a double and two RBI; Tyler Reed went 1-3; Michael Campos went 1-3; Rhett Hill went 1-2 with a double and two walks; Isiah Anguiano had a run scored; Troy Perez went 2-4.
