The Rattlers scratched and clawed their way to a W against the Churchill Chargers on Friday, clenching first place in district play. Starting pitcher, Darden Wetherell, demonstrated his determination and worked hard on the bump for Reagan. With bases loaded in the 1st inning and no outs, Wetherell pitched 3 ground outs in a row, giving up just 1 run. Wetherell held the Chargers to 1 run until the top of the 5th. “D” gave up 5 hits and 3 runs (2 earned) and walked 2 in 5.2 innings pitched. Wetherell also had a pickoff at first base in the 3rd that led to the runner being tagged out in a pickle by Jeter Battles. The drain on the Chargers began when Cody Pictrowski entered in relief in the 5th. Down 3-2 and with a runner on second base, Pictrowski delivered a crushing strikeout. Pictrowski’s clutch performance with his deceiving breaking ball held the Chargers scoreless while delivering 2 more strikeouts in the top of the 7th, 1 in the 8th, and 1 in the 9th for a total of 5 strikeouts in his 3.1 innings pitched. Pic got the win, walking 0 and giving up 2 hits and 0 runs.
Reagan’s offense struggled to string hits together, but the close-knit team found a way to get it done. Reagan went scoreless until the bottom of the 4th despite Battles coming out of the gate with a line drive single to CF and a stolen base in the 1st. Isaiah Robledo scored in the 4th after getting a line drive single to LF followed by a masterful sac bunt from Caden Crofts and an RBI line drive single to RF from Elias Leon. Battles got his RBI in the 5th when he hit a hard ground ball to CF, scoring Caleb Cappuccio who had reached on a line drive to CF and advanced to second on a textbook sac bunt from Caleb Crider. In the 6th, Crofts line drive singled to CF then Caden Roy executed a skillful bunt that moved Crofts into scoring position at second base. With a 2-2 count, Ryland Rangel came through for the Rattlers big time, hitting a monster double down the RF line that rolled to the fence, scoring Crofts to tie the game at 3. The Rattlers battled their way to the bottom of the 9th inning. With 2 outs, Battles put the ball in play and reached on an error. Robledo ground ball singled to RF, and “Big Dawg” Crofts got the walk-off with a line drive bomb to CF, scoring Battles. All of the energy was drained from the Chargers as the Rattlers players erupted from the dugout with water bottles spraying in the air, celebrating with the team on a hard-fought win and the district title.
The Rattlers play their next game on Tuesday, April 23 at Blossom Athletic Center @ 7:30 pm against the Roosevelt Rough Riders. Tickets are available at https://my.hometownticketing.com/agency/3fc66759-ed24-4d1f-bd21-d74fa9cf7641
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