The organizers of the Randy Keller Memorial Tournament anticipated correctly when they scheduled the event’s penultimate game at Hodgetown on Saturday afternoon between two metro teams who had unblemished marks over the previous two days.
In that regard, it was a successful end to the tournament, especially for Amarillo High.
Both Amarillo High and West Plains went unbeaten in their previous four games before they clashed as scheduled to end the classic, which didn’t crown a true champion. If one were to do that, though, they would have to crown the Sandies, who came back from an early deficit to beat West Plains 4-2 and finish the Keller at 5-0.
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Amarillo High improved to 13-2 and established itself as a definite contender in District 3-5A play, which starts Tuesday. AHS coach Randon Johnson likes the situations his team faced to close out pre-district play which will get the Sandies ready for district play.
“We really feel like the last two days, some of it weather and some of it self-inflicted, we’ve had to battle a little bit,” Johnson said. “Being able to be 5-0 and overcome adversity says a lot about the guys we have in the dugout right now.”
The Sandies had two fairly easy wins over three days, but their combined margin in the other three wins was only five runs. They showed how they got through those games against West Plains (11-5).
Amarillo High starter Tate Blackwell gave up a pair of unearned runs in the first as West Plains took a 2-0 lead. That was all the Wolves pushed across against Blackwell, though.
Blackwell retired 10 straight batters at one point and gave up only four hits while walking two.
“He’s gone two complete games leading up to this point and those were the first runs against him this year,” Johnson said of Blackwell. “The big deal with him is that he pounds the zone and attacks people. I feel like he settled in a little bit after those first two and that’s what we expected of him.”
The game was a bit of an anomaly for two teams finishing up their fifth game in three days in that it was a pitchers’ duel. Noah Vasquez of West Plains was more than up to the task against Blackwell.
After giving up a triple to Amarillo High’s Jimmy Escajeda to open the bottom of the first, Vasquez matched Blackwell by retiring 10 straight. That streak ended in the fourth, though, when Austin Sluder tripled to center and scored on the next pitch when Jayden Cedillo tripled to left. Sergio Valencia then looped a single to left to drive home Cedillo and tie it 2-2.
Cedilllo drove home his second run of the game off Vasquez in the fifth, when he singled to left to bring home Talon Jones, who walked and stole second, giving the Sandies the lead for good at 3-2.
“Noah did a great job,” West Plains coach Colby Chandler said. “We didn’t make some plays I thought we could have made behind him and that hasn’t been like us all year. It’s a little disappointing but I am proud of how he performed on the mound. He’s going to continue to be one of our guys all season long.”
The Sandies got an insurance run in the sixth when Escajeda drove home a run off West Plains reliever Ethan Griffin to make it 4-2. That came after Blackwell gave up a leadoff triple to Vasquez in the sixth, then retired the next three batters.
In the seventh, Blackwell appeared as if might incur more irreparable damage, as he walked pinch hitter Ethan Frausto to lead off the inning and Caleb Barraza pinch ran for Frausto. Elijah Barrera then doubled to the deep left field corner and Barraza tried to score from first with Chandler waving him home, but left field Valencia hit third baseman Ian Harrick with a throw, and Harrick drilled the relay throw to the plate to nail Barraza for the first out.
“At the end of the day we’re going to stay aggressive,” Chandler said. “I own that. Ultimately we were trying to make something happen and continue to play how we play. Credit to Blackwell, he did a great job of keeping us off balance and locating his off-speed stuff well.”
Blackwell got Delayn Deleon to ground back to the mound, then struck out Nate Alvarez to seal the win for the Sandies.
Things start counting for both teams this next week when district play opens. Amarillo High starts 3-5A at home against Palo Duro at 5 p.m. Tuesday then goes to Palo Duro for the second game at the same time Friday.
The early numbers indicate the Sandies will be ready for that.
“The wins are nice but rolling into district is when they’re going to count so wem want to make sure that we experience some things,” Johnson said. “We’ve hit the ball well and we’ve not hit the ball well in figuring out ways to win. We’ve made errors and found ways to overcome it. That relay at the corner to throw a guy out at the plate is something that will pay off later on.”
West Plains, meanwhile, has succeeded despite not having a full complement of players and that could be the case heading into Wednesday’s District 4-4A opener at Hereford. Kaden Hooker, Boston Ladd and Reid Macon, who have also been pillars of West Plains successful football teams, are still obligated to the basketball team which will be playing in the state semifinals next Tuesday against Dallas Kimball and might not be available for the first two games of district play.
“We’ve got guys who we trust to go out and win us baseball games,” Chandler said. “Going into district 11-5, obviously you never want to lose a game, but we’ve learned a lot about ourselves and we feel like we can go out and win some key district games right now. We look forward to them coming back. I know they’ll be ready.”
After Amarillo High and West Plains, the next best showing in the Keller by a metro team was by Canyon. The Eagles ran the gamut in their first three games with a win, a loss and a tie, but they won twice Saturday to end the classic, beating Amarillo ISD tournament co-hosts Tascosa 7-2 and Palo Duro 9-4.
Randy Keller Tournament scores
Thursday’s games
Amarillo High 13, Randall 1
West Plains 13, El Paso Ysleta 2
Canyon 2, Fort Worth Trimble Tech 2
Randall 7, Levelland 6
Palo Duro 4, Trimble Tech 3
Caprock 12, Borger 3
Canyon 8, Ysleta 3
West Plains 18, Palo Duro 2
Tascosa 5, Levelland 4
Dumas 9, Sweetwater 2
Hereford 6, El Paso Riverside 0
Sweetwater 8, Perryton 3
Lubbock Trinity Christian 11, Perryton 1
El Paso Riverside 16, Borger 3
Hereford 6, Trinity Christian 3
Friday’s games
West Plains 12, Caprock 1
Randall 12, Ysleta 2
Riverside 6, Tascosa 0
Pampa 9, Palo Duro 8
Randall 17, Trimble Tech 3
Borger 4, Palo Duro 1
Perryton 19, Caprock 2
Amarillo High 12, Hereford 11
Tascosa 8, Dumas 4
Amarillo High 8, Canyon 6
Trimble Tech 14, Perryton 13
Hereford 12, Sweetwater 7
Levelland 12, Pampa 6
Saturday’s games
West Plains 13, Trimble Tech 1
Amarillo High 9, Dumas 1
Trinity Christian 10, Randall 1
Amarillo High 4, West Plains 2
Pampa 9, Caprock 4
Tascosa 12, Hereford 5
Canyon 7, Tascosa 2
Canyon 9, Palo Duro 4
Trinity Christian 10, Pampa 0