JOURDANTON — Sharyland Pioneer finds itself in a place it hasn’t been so far this postseason — facing a do-or-die scenario after losing Game 1 of a playoff series.
The Diamondbacks dropped Game 1 of their best-of-three Region IV-5A final against Georgetown 4-0 on Thursday at Jourdanton High School. The Eagles lead the series 1-0.
Game 2 is scheduled for 7 tonight at Jourdanton High School. Game 3, if necessary, is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday at Jourdanton High School.
“This is the first time our backs are against the wall after Game 1. We’ve got to flush what happened tonight and just let it go,” interim head coach Shawn Moes said. “Just come back tomorrow, clean up the mistakes from today and be ready to go tomorrow. It’s do-or-die, win or go home.”
The Diamondbacks preached that the team that made fewer mistakes would emerge victorious. In Game 1, that was the Eagles.
Pioneer (32-9) committed three errors during the first four innings, leading to a three-run second for Georgetown and one more score during the fourth. All four runs by Georgetown (31-7) were scored with two outs on the board.
“At the end of the day, it came down to who made the least mistakes and that’s exactly what happened. Georgetown put up a zero in the error column while we put up three, and that was the difference-maker today,” senior shortstop Juan Rivera said. “Tomorrow, we have to come out and play flawless, and flush this one because it’s do-or-die from here on out.”
Four runs was all the offense the Eagles needed as pitcher Nick Silva threw a complete game shutout, allowing two hits and four walks while striking out five.
The Diamondbacks didn’t record their first hit until the fifth inning on a Stevie Quintanilla single to left field. Angel Larrañaga, who also pitched a complete game, had Pioneer’s only other hit with a single to right field during the sixth. Larrañaga pitched seven innings, allowing six hits, two walks and no earned runs while striking out six.
Moes said the Diamondbacks have to clean up their defense and be more aggressive at the plate in order to win Game 2 and keep their season alive.
“We got to swing the bats and be prepared and be ready. We got to stay in our approach that we’ve had — for the most part we were, but at times we were taking pitches we probably shouldn’t have been taking,” Moes said. “We just got to come out swinging early, try to knock out their first guy and try to get to their bullpen.”
