Italy — On a pleasant day at Loyd Davidson Field, head coach Josh Ward enjoyed this one. Tyler Anderson never wavered on the mound and solid hitting from Ward’s Warriors did Axtell in as the JV Gladiators rolled over the Longhorns 14-3.

Kyle Fortenberry’s production at the plate continues while a 2 run RBI double to the mound by John Escamilla and a 2 run RBI double by John Byers distanced the JV Gladiators from the herd. Zain Byers added a pair of singles while a towering 350 foot homerun by Marvin Cox cleared the left field fence to dot the exclamation point to the statement, “Italy is for real!”

Taking advantage of Axtell’s pitching struggles, Italy’s base runners would quickly turn a walk into a run. Cody Boyd, Omar Estrada, Kevin Roldan, Cox and Anderson systematically worked the base route to help Italy reach the 5 run limit allowed during two separate at bats for Italy.

Axtell created a surge in the later innings but their moral was abruptly halted when Escamilla held onto the ball to tag out the runner at the last possible instant to erase a homerun effort by the Longhorns and highlight the team effort turned in by Italy’s defense.

Chace McGinnis, who finished the game at second base, fielded a ground ball and tossed it to first baseman Hank Seabolt for an out and then a grounder back to Anderson at the mound led to the final out from the pitcher to Seabolt to secure Italy’s 14-3 win.

With the football district championship and the basketball district championship already under their belts, the JV Gladiators are well on their way to competing for the baseball district championship, as well.

Go for it, Gladiators!