The Roadrunners of Holbrook have advanced to the semifinals of the 3A State Baseball Tournament with a pair of wins in the first two rounds.
Playing as the 10th seed, the Roadrunners met up with seventh seeded Winslow for the fifth time this year in the opening round matchup. Coming into this game both teams had won twice, but with the season on the line, the Roadrunners prevailed 13-8 to advance to the second round.
Winslow took the early lead with a first inning run only to have the Birds tie the game with a run in the top of the second. In the third Holbrook pushed across four runs, then had a huge fifth inning, scoring seven more to lead 13-1. Needing a big inning to extend the game Winslow came out and scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth, then added single runs in the sixth and seventh, but that was as close as the Bulldogs would get.
Holbrook pounded out 14 hits in the win led by Ryan Baldonado, who went three for five with a home run, a stolen base, four RBIs and scored twice. Joey Aguilera was three for four, walked, stole one base and scored a run. Caleb Layden went two for four with a walk, stole two bases, had two RBIs and scored twice. Austin Lozano went two for four with a walk and had one RBI. Blake Maestas was one for three with a walk, an RBI and scored a run. Kory Koerperich went one for three, was hit by a pitch twice, stole one base and scored two runs. Jesse Spangler went one for four, walked and scored once. Levi Reyes was one for three, was hit by a pitch, had one sacrifice, three RBIs and scored twice. Dylan Barela and Robert Jaquez each scored once in the win.
Javier Quintana earned the start and the win, working 41/3 innings against the Bulldogs. He faced 21 batters, giving up six runs, only five earned, on 3 hits with three strikeouts and four walks. Layden pitched 22/3 innings, facing 16 batters. He gave up two runs, one earned, on 3 hits with one strikeout.
Holbrook 014 170 0 13
Winslow 100 051 1 8
In the quarterfinal round Holbrook met up with 15th seeded Empire, which had surprised second ranked Fountain Hills in the first round. Holbrook kept up the momentum from Friday’s win and built an early lead with seven runs through the first three innings. That was more than enough for Baldonado, who pitched a complete game to help the Roadrunners advance to the final four with a 9-5 win.
Baldonado faced 30 batters and allowed five runs, only three earned, on five hits with seven strikeouts and six walks.
At the plate, Baldonado went one for four, reached once on an error and scored a run. Maestas was two for three, stole a base, had an RBI and scored once. Layden went two for four with two RBIs and scored once. Lozano was two for two with two sacrifices and three RBIs. Koerperich went one for three, stole two bases, reached twice on errors and had one RBI. Spangler was one for four with a run scored. Reyes went one for four with an RBI and stole a base. Aguilera went one for two with a sacrifice and scored a run.
Empire 111 001 1 5
Holbrook 232 110 0 9
Holbrook will face sixth seeded Estrella Foothills at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 13, in the first semifinal game. With a win the Roadrunners would face either top ranked Blue Ridge or 12th seeded River Valley in the championship game at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
