Two outs. Tied ball game. Fellow Junior Greyson Paronto on second as Junior Max Neff comes to bat. On the first pitch he sees, Neff clobbers it to left field, bringing home Paronto and sending the Harvesters to 2-0 in District play with the 5-4 in walk-off fashion.
“I was really surprised. (Isaiah) Estrada gets the bunt down to get Paronto to second base,” Head Coach Austin Samulowitz said. “We got two outs, first base is open and Max already has a couple of hits on the day. I thought that they would walk him and put him on first base to try for a force out.
“They decided to pitch to him and he hits one right down the line. I’m instantly waving my arm saying, ‘Come on, Paronto’ and the biggest thing I was thinking at the time was making sure Paronto didn’t miss third base. Once he touched the base it was all joy from there because I knew we won the game.”
The Harvesters found themselves in a hole early following a 2-0 opening inning by Hereford. But an RBI double from senior Noah Anguiano scored junior Conner Hall and fellow Class of ‘25 teammate Isaiah Anguiano to tie the game up.
The Herd tacked on another run in the top of the seventh, only for the Green Team to answer on an RBI double from Neff in the seventh to score N. Anguiano.
That brings us to extra innings, and in the top of the 9th, Hereford adds a run to take the 4-3 lead.
The Harvesters took the small-ball approach to the bottom of the ninth, starting with a base hit knock to center field by I. Anguiano. Senior Chace McLaughlin laid down a bunt in no man’s land (as far as the third baseman and pitcher were concerned), which led to runners on first and second and no outs for the Harvesters.
“One of our main goals going into the season was to play more small-ball,” Samulowitz said. “It’s something that, in our opinion, if you do it right, you can’t defend it without us being successful one way or another. We’re not going to hit balls off the wall or hit doubles to score a lot of runs this year. So we know that we’re going to have to lay some bunts down and put pressure on the defenses. We know we’re creating chaos for the defense.
“That’s something we take a lot of pride in, that we like to do and that we’ve been practicing for moments just like that against Hereford. It paid off for us with a win.”
Paronto hit into a fielder’s choice, leading to McLaughlin being out at second. But the damage had been done and there were runners at the corners.
Senior Isaiah Estrada laid down a bunt, bringing I. Anguiano 90 feet to home and tying the game, setting the stage for Neff’s walk-off hit to left field for the win.
“He had two huge hits down the line that game,” Samulowitz said. “The first one was to tie the game to tie the game to force another inning. Then he did the exact same thing to put us ahead for the win.
“He transitioned to catcher this year because we needed somebody and he volunteered to do it. He’s taken on that role and done a fantastic job for us. He’s built like a catcher, a tough kid and one of the best athletes out there. You don’t see many catchers play lead-off.
I’m proud of him. He loves those types of situations. He wants the ball. We got lucky there with him coming up.”
The Harvesters return to action on Tuesday as they travel north to Perryton, hoping to keep momentum on their side against the Rangers. Game time is at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
“Perryton is a tough place to play,” Samulowitz said. “They beat Canyon last week and Canyon is a Top 15 team. Coach Fletcher is doing a good job with them and they are playing good, clean baseball. It’s a tough field to play on and they are a tough team to beat. We just need to play good, clean baseball and throw a lot of strikes and we will be fine.”
Stat Round-Up
Neff went 2-5 with two RBI and a double; Senior Brooks Barton went 1-3 with a walk; Senior Judsen Hancock had a walk; I. Anguiano went 1-4 with two runs scored, a stolen base and two runs scored; McLaughlin went 1-3; N. Anguiano went 1-3 with a double, two RBI and a run scored; Hall had a run scored; Paronto had a run scored and Estrada had an RBI.
Barton pitched 6.2 innings with five hits, three runs, two earned runs, six strikeouts and five walks; Estrada pitched 2.1 with one hit, one run, one earned run, two strikeouts and two walks.
