Good Friday morning, ValleyBoys fans, wherever you may be.
Last night, under a stubborn West Texas wind that kicked up more dust than a cattle drive, the ValleyBoys took to the diamond a day early at the Rez — and what a night it was.
The opponents were the Bowie Bears, and from the very first pitch, you could tell: the ValleyBoys came hungry.
It all started quietly enough — a walk here, a walk there, Derek Licon working counts like an old pro. And then Santiago Osorio stepped in, a young man with hands quicker than a rattlesnake’s strike, and lashed a double down the line to plate two.
Before the Bears could even reset their infield chatter, freshmen Ruben Jurado drove a double to deep left, scoring two more. Alexander Rubio followed with a laser beam of a single, so hard-hit it might’ve left a dent in the ball, pushing another run across.
And still, the merry-go-round spun: Evan Martinez stroked a clean single to bring home two, and then — oh, what might have been — Sebastian “Duran Duran” sent a towering shot into the howling wind. It looked gone. It felt gone.
But in a game played with cowhide and thread, sometimes it’s the wind that wears the crown. The ball died on the warning track, but it was deep enough to score two more as Duran made it to second.
By the time the dust settled and the order flipped back around, the ValleyBoys had batted around and seized an 11-0 lead — and we hadn’t even cooled the popcorn yet.
The Bears, bless their hearts, cycled through pitchers, searching for answers like a man looking for a dropped penny in a sandstorm. They finally escaped the inning, but the damage was done.
Skipper took the opportunity to get the second squad some innings, and Evan Martinez moved to the mound. Smooth and composed, Evan tossed two innings, allowing just a single hit and a lone run, fanning three.
Then it was time: senior right-hander Adry Botello. Calm as a man tying a fly for a Sunday fishing trip, Botello pitched three innings of nearly flawless baseball — just one hit, no runs, two strikeouts, no walks. He earned the win, and if you blinked, you might have missed just how easy he made it look.
At the plate, it was a team effort. Santiago and Jurado each went 2-for-3, picking up three RBIs apiece, dancing around the bases like kids in a backyard game. Gavin Mata and Ismael Morales showed their toughness, reaching base however they could — walks, bruises, a little stubbornness, the ValleyBoys way.
When it was all wrapped up in a neat five innings, the scoreboard told the story:
ValleyBoys 13, Bowie Bears 1.
Ten hits, one error for the ValleyBoys; two hits, three errors for the Bears.
And now, a new chapter waits to be written.
This coming Tuesday, the Riverside Rangers — tough, proud, and perched in second place — come to the Rez.
It’s a rematch of the Texas 20, and it’s a brotherly battle between the Solis brothers. The ValleyBoys sit at 10-0, one win away from clinching the 1-4A district title.
Tuesday night, 6:30, under the lights at the Diamond on the Rez.
The ValleyBoys, with a district championship within reach.
And somewhere, drifting on the desert breeze, the scent of baseball and history.