The Holbrook Roadrunners defeated the Winslow Bulldogs 13-8 in the first round of the Arizona State 3A Baseball Tournament played in Surprise last Friday. The loss ended Winslow’s season with a record of 18-12 during the campaign.
Holbrook continued its winning ways in the state tournament with a 9-5 win over Empire on Saturday to advance to the semifinals against Estrella Foothills, a 15-0 victor over Safford. That game will be played at 3 o’clock this afternoon (May 13).
In the other bracket, Blue Ridge will meet River Valley in the semifinals. Blue Ridge defeated Florence, 8-1, while River Valley bested Chino Valley, 11-2.
The Roadrunners got a brilliant mound performance from Javier Quintana, who allowed five runs on six hits and four walks in 41/3 innings. Matt Smith suffered the loss for Winslow, going four innings plus before being relieved by Vittorio Sells.
Winslow had a brief 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a double by Colton Corum and a single by Smith. Holbrook tied the score in the second inning on a single by Ryan Baldonado, a stolen base and an error. The Roadrunners went up 5-1 in the third inning on a single by Kory Koerperich, a hit batsman, a home run by Baldonado, a walk and a double by Joey Aguilera. It became 6-1 in the fourth on a single by Caleb Layden, a hit batsman and a ground out.
The Roadrunners built a commanding 13-1 lead in the top of the fifth on a walk, a single by Blake Maestas, a walk, a single by Layden, a hit batsman, and singles by Levi Reyes and Baldonado, Jesse Spangler and Aguilera.
Winslow cut the margin to 13-6 in the bottom of the fifth to avoid the 10-run mercy rule. There were three walks, followed by doubles by Corum and Smith, and a single by Jevon Estelle. Two Holbrook errors in the bottom of the sixth led to a run to cut the lead to 13-7, and a run scored in the bottom of the seventh on a single by Rhett Hardy, a balk, a hit batsman and a walk, but that was as close as the Bulldogs could come.
