Cowboys sweep Santa Fe and break a franchise record

The Cowboys made the trip to Santa Fe to take on the Fuego last Thursday. This was a four-game series for Alpine that saw many trials and tribulations despite the four-game sweep. This included a handful of rain, and lightning delays. However, the Cowboys did not let the weather stop them. Alpine went into this series with a 23-1 record, meanwhile Sante Fe had only won seven games and were on a five-game skid.

Game one saw Brendan May take the mound for the second time all season. May started the game off red hot as he had a strikeout in the first and then a two-run home run to drive in Peyton Kennard who had just had an RBI of his own. Trevor Tripoli hit his second home of the season to drive in AJ Folds. The Cowboys ended the seven run second inning with an RBI double from Johnny Medina

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The Cowboys tacked on four more runs in the third with RBI singles from: Trevor Tripoli, Josh Rego, and Drake Angeron. At this point Alpine had a commanding 11-0 lead in the third inning. Peyten Kennard followed it up with his first professional home run in the fourth inning to make the score 13-0.

The bottom of the fourth saw the Fuego finally put runs on the scoreboard. Adrian Garcia got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in one run. Two more runs would be scored from Santa Fe that inning. One was off of a fielder’s choice and the other was off of a wild pitch. The score was now 13-3.

Alpine struck back with another two-run shot in the fifth inning from Peyten Kennard. Fuego catcher Sean Bennett would counter with an RBI single later that inning. The advantage was in Alpine’s favor with a score of 15-4. Little did anybody know, but those would be the final runs scored by the Fuego that evening.

Brendan May was taken off of the mound after five innings. His final line was: Five innings pitched, six hits, four earned runs, four walks, and two strikeouts. That’s not to mention the home run May had to get the scoring going for Alpine. He was replaced by Jonathan Fleckenstein.

AJ Folds scored off of a wild pitch and Johnny Medina hit an RBI single in the sixth inning. Drew Bayard would score off a fielder’s choice in the next inning, which was followed by Trevor Tripoli’s second home run of the ball game. Taylor Darden backed it up with a solo shot of his own immediately after. The Cowboys led 21-4.

Game one was ended early, because of a time limit. This time limit is put in place, because of the Fuego’s long ball games. This is contributed to field dimensions that make home runs easier to hit. It is also contributed to the fact that many houses are located nearby the ballpark.

The final inning was the eighth inning and Alpine ended it with a bang. A wild pitch scored Johhny Medina. RBI walks came from Trevor Tripoli and Jonathan Fleckenstein with the bases loaded. RBI singles would come from Taylor Darden and Drake Angeron later in the inning. Jonathan Fleckenstein closed it out on the mound as he pitched three shutout innings in relief.

In the end, the Cowboys took game one with a score of 28-4. The Cowboys were three runs short of breaking a franchise record for runs in a game. That record was set last July in Santa Fe.

Game two saw Humberto Vela take the mound for the Cowboys. Vela was having a historic season with his command; walking nobody at this point in the season. The game started off with two wild pitches that scored Alpine baserunners. The Cowboys led 2-0 to open up the ballgame.

The Cowboys tacked on two more runs in the second inning off of RBI singles from Humberto Vela and AJ Folds. The Fuego countered with a solo home run from Jake Grubesic to make the score 4-1 after two innings played.

Alpine immediately struck back with a solo shot of their own, coming off of the bat of Trevor Tripoli. Tripoli continued the hot streak with a home run the very next inning. The Cowboys led 9-1 after the fourth inning. Taylor Darden continued a three-game streak with a home run in the sixth inning with a two-run blast.

James Prockish hit his third home run of the season to extend Alpine’s lead in the sixth. A two run RBI double from AJ Folds and a wild pitch that scored Humberto Vela further strengthened Alpine’s lead. They led 16-1 in the sixth inning.

The Cowboys struck again in the seventh with two runs scoring off of the bat of Drew Bayard. Bayard hit an RBI single to give Alpine eighteen runs on the game. Jaylen Smith came in for Humberto Vela in the eighth inning after a stellar start. Vela’s final line was: Seven innings pitched, seven hits, one earned run, one walk (first of the season), and nine strikeouts.

A balk would score AJ Folds in the eighth inning for Alpine’s nineteenth and final run. Santa Fe got their second run of the game from a Sacrifice fly from Kole Renken. An RBI single from Kole Renken and another Sacrifice fly from Jake Grubesic would give Santa Fe two more runs in the ninth inning. This wouldn’t matter as the Cowboys win game two with a score of 19-3.

Game three was important as the Cowboys looked to break a franchise record for most consecutive wins in franchise history with fourteen wins. Brayde Hirai stepped onto the mound for Alpine and gave up an RBI single to Dominic Scotti in the first inning

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Neither team would score again until the third when the Cowboys got on the board with RBIs from Trevor Tripoli and Taylor Darden. This was followed by a three-run home run from Matteo Avallone to give the Cowboys a 6-1 lead. Later that inning, Rodney Scarver and the Fuego would counter with a home run of their own to cut the lead in half.

Lightning and rain entered the area which led to a thirty-minute delay. When the Cowboys returned to action, they returned with a bang. A solo shot from Brayde Hirai gave the Cowboys their seventh run. That home run was Hirai’s first home of his professional career. The Cowboys tacked on another solo home run in the next inning, this time it came off of the bat of James Prockish. The Cowboys now led 8-3 over Santa Fe.

The sixth inning came around and the Cowboys scored all of their runs off of home runs. It started with a two-run blast from Drake Angeron, which was followed by Matteo Avallone’s second three-run home run of the game. Drew Bayard then proceeded to hit his second home run of the season and that made the score 14-3 in the sixth inning.

Alpine once again was hitting balls out of the park in the seventh inning as a two-run home run from Taylor Darden made the score 16-3. In the eighth inning, back-to-back RBI singles from Trevor Tripoli and Taylor Darden made the score 18-3. With the bases loaded, James Prockish delivered a double that cleared the bases. The Cowboys now led 21-3.

Due to more lightning in the area, the game was eventually called after the top of the eighth. The Cowboys win 21-3 and break a franchise record for the longest win streak with fourteen wins. Brayde Hirai had a phenomenal day on the mound, his final line was: Seven innings pitched, six hits, three earned runs, one walk, and ten strikeouts.

The series finale took place the next night and Alpine looked to continue their historic win streak with Jacob Bradley on the mound. The Cowboys opened up the game with three RBI singles from: James Prockish, Drew Bayard, and Peyten Kennard. The Cowboys led 5-0 in the top of the first.

The Fuego countered later that inning with a five spot of their own. An RBI double from Kole Renken and a three-run home run from pitcher Tristan Cavazos tied the ball game. The Fuego took the lead in the third inning with an RBI single from Zeke Hass to make the score 6-5. ‘

Each team was scoreless until the sixth inning until Santa Fe tacked on another run with an RBI single from Tristan Cavazos. Jacob Bradley’s day was over after six innings, his final line was: Six innings pitched, ten hits, seven earned runs, zero walks, and eight strikeouts.

The Cowboys cut the lead to one in the seventh inning when Matteo Avallone scored off of a wild pitch. Liam Reynolds pitched the next two inning for Alpine and he didn’t allow anyone to get on base and had two strikeouts. The Cowboys tied the game in the eighth inning with a Sacrfice fly from Josh Rego. Alpine took the lead when Taylor Darden scored from third. Going into the ninth inning, the Cowboys only led 8-7.

In what might the biggest moment of the season so far, Trevor Tripoli hit a two-run home run in the ninth to put the game on ice. Alec Cruz came in for the ninth inning, and despite giving up a run, he got the save and the Cowboys win 10-8

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The Cowboys start a three-game series against the Austin Weirdos starting July 3rd at 6:00 PM CST.

All photos via Julie Myers