Rival ready

By Michael Brooks

Staff Writer

Edna head coach Eric Vasquez jogged out to the mound to talk to pitcher Dylan Yaws after he allowed a double in the sixth inning.  Vasquez had a tough decision to make: take Yaws out after a masterful pitching performance, or let him stay and try to finish the game. Yaws was holding on to a 1-0 lead but only need two more outs for the complete game shutout. Vasquez decided to leave him in and Yaws induced a groundout and then struck out the final batter of the game and the Cowboys walked away with a 1-0 victory.

“He pitched so well, I just needed to have a lot of confidence in the kid,” Vasquez said. “Guys are going to hit the ball. It happens. (When the coach visits a pitcher on the mound) If he sees that you are flustered, he’s gonna get nervous and start shutting down. Which, he did get a little bit nervous, but as a coach, you see what part of the line up is coming up and talk to the other coaches. But he’s our go-to pitcher; I have a lot of faith in him.”

The game was a pitcher’s duel throughout. Both teams got a single hit in the first inning. Yaws set down the Tigers one, two, three, in the second and the game stayed that way until the bottom of the fourth when the Cowboys finally broke through for the only run of the game when Riley Gerdes delivered an RBI double.

In the top of the fifth, Tidehaven was threatening to get the run back. With runners on second and third, Gerdes bounced a throw but first baseman Paul Cortez made a clean pick and the Cowboys escaped without allowing a Tiger to cross the plate.

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