Reagan’s whole season seemed to be at stake in every at-bat, each out and every moment late in the second game of the Region IV-5A quarterfinals.
Yet the Rattlers, especially Troy Montemayor, were as composed as a kid playing ball on a neighborhood sandlot.
Reagan swept Corpus Christi King on Saturday afternoon at UTSA, winning the opener 3-2 in eight innings and then rolling to a 6-1 victory to clinch the best-of-3 series.
After pitching two innings of no-hit relief to win the opener, Montemayor threw a complete game in the finale to lead Reagan to the semifinals.
“I just want to give my team a chance to win,” Montemayor said.
Reagan (30-5) advances to play Laredo Alexander (27-2).
The Rattlers were able to exhale in the second game after winning a tense opener against the Mustangs (25-10).
“That’s how it is when you get to this time of year,” Reagan coach Chans Chapman said. “Guys came up with clutch hits. Can’t say enough about what Troy did. Gutsy, gutsy effort by him.”
After losing the series opener 5-3 on Thursday, the Rattlers raced to a 2-0 lead after three innings. The Mustangs tied the game by scoring two runs in the fourth on a hit and three hit batsmen.
King opened the fifth with consecutive singles but failed to take their first lead.
An attempted sacrifice bunt was popped up for an out that led to a double play when Reagan doubled off the trailing runner, who attempted to advance to second with Lane still on base. The Rattlers induced a pop fly to second for the third out to end the threat.
“It was a chance they were going to have to go ahead,” Chapman said. “The guy popped it up, and we found a way to get him out. We work on that a lot as far as rundowns and stuff, and it paid off. That’s just kids coming up in big situations.”
Montemayor entered in the seventh and set down King in order in two straight innings.
“That kid’s a very solid pitcher,” Mustangs coach Gabriel Perez said. “He threw Thursday night against us. Today he came in relief, and the guy just does a great job, he keeps the ball down and he throws strikes. He gives them a chance to win, and that’s all you ever ask from your pitcher.”
Montemayor’s pitching enabled Reagan to score the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth. After a lead-off double by Jack Thompson and a fly out to right field by Drew Brooks, King loaded the bases with a pair of intentional walks. Leyton Leone then walked on four straight pitches to score the game-winning run. Original article & image courtesy of San Antonio Express News.