The Pampa Harvesters’ (17-14-1) spectacular, roller-coaster of a season came to an end on Friday at Andrews against El Paso-Riverside in the Area Round of the playoffs. The Harvesters dropped the first game 4-3, won the second game 5-2, and fell in the rubber match 12-4.
“We knew going into the series that their bats were really solid from top to bottom in their lineup,” Head Coach Austin Samulowitz said. “I felt like we did a great job keeping their bats limited in the first two games. The floodgates just opened on game three.
“We played them really well in the first two games but were just unable to keep them off the board in game three.”
The playoff loss puts an end to a season where the Harvesters entered many games as the underdog but went 6-1 in one-run games during district play, earned Samulowitz’ 50th career win and upset Midland-Greenwood for a Bi-District Championship.
“We proved a lot of people wrong and beat a lot of expectations people in the area had for us,” Samulowitz said. “We proved ourselves more capable than we thought. I’m proud of our seniors for coming back and having a really strong senior year and going out with a bang.”
“I told the boys after the game last week that the Gold Glove can never be taken away. ‘You guys made it happen, and I’m proud of you’.”
As the Harvesters’ baseball program looks forward, the playoff run gave Pampa two extra weeks of practice that will come in handy next season.
“We got two extra weeks of practice that Dumas, Perryton, Hereford, and Borger didn’t get,” Samulowitz said. “We got one more week of practice that Canyon didn’t get. That’s huge going forward as we are trying to build this program.
“In athletics, success breeds success. We have a Gold Glove under our belt. Hopefully we can replicate that next season.”
This group of seniors, including Isaiah Anguiano, Noah Aguiano, Isaiah Estrada, Duncan Gamblin, Chace McLaughlin, .Judsen Hancock and Brooks Barton, have been a big part of Samulowtiz’ head coaching career, being the first group he coached from freshmen to seniors.
“We’ve gone through valleys and mountaintops together, literally,” Samulowitz said. “I feel like they embody what I want this program to be this year. We will probably never be the most talented, but we will give it all we’ve got and grind out games. We’re going to try to take care of the little things, do our jobs, and be good teammates, and I feel like we finally saw that. Especially these last few weeks. I couldn’t be more proud of them.
Even with seven seniors graduating, the Harvesters will return several key pieces in their senior year next season.
“Looking toward next year we have three of our top four hitters coming back,” Samulowitz said. “We’ve got a couple of our young guys, like Clayton Rogers’ being one of them (hopefully he has a good summer and can come back as our shortstop), having a bigger role. We’re going to have to find some pitching, but I feel like that’s going to be our biggest role.”
SEASON STATS
Max Neff batted .368, with a .407 OBP and had 42 hits, 30 singles, seven doubles, three triples and two home runs; Isaiah Anguiano hit .287 with a .434 OBP with 25 hits, 13 singles, eight doubles and four home runs; Judsen Hancock batted .279 with a .422 OBP with 24 hits, 20 singles, three doubles and a triple; Brooks Barton hit .269 with a .384 OBP and 25 hits, 19 singles and six doubles; Boston Botello hit .269 with a .378 OBP and 25 hits, 23 singles and two doubles; Jarren Hill hit .258 with a .394 OBP and 23 hits, 19 singles, three doubles and a home run; Noah Anguiano hit .220 with a .487 OBP and 11 hits and 10 singles; Isaiah Estrada hit .194 with a .383 OBP with 12 hits, 11 singles and a double; Chace McLaughlin hit .194 with a .286 OBP and 12 hits and 12 singles; Conner Hall hit .176 with a .286 OBP and six hits, five singles and a double.
