Gladiator Baseball rallys late against 2A Rio but Eagles hang on for 10-7 win
There’s no place like home. Gladiator catcher John “J.T.” Escamilla(12) is glad to be back in action, after recovering from a leg injury, in time for Italy’s season opener against RIo Vista. (Barry Byers)
Italy — The Gladiators fought until the end against the visiting 2A Rio Vista Eagles in an exciting season opener at Loyd Davidson Field.
Ryan Connor, Kyle Forteneberry and Levi McBride were Italy’s pitching committee while John “J.T” Escamilla managed the defense from behind the plate.
Offensively, Italy made some noise late in the contest after trailing 8-2 in the top of the sixth-inning with Italy being sparked by a triple from junior slugger John Byers. A triple by Kenneth Norwood, Jr. helped close the gap 8-5.
Rio Vista added two more runs to go up 10-5 but a fly ball catch by Fortenberry in right field and a strikeout pitch by McBride setup a thrilling last at bat for the Gladiators. John Byers and Ryan Connor both got on base with walks and then a double from Levi McBride scores Byers and Connor to keep Italy in the battle, 10-7.
Italy then loaded the bases with Jorge Galvan sliding in safe at third, McBride standing up at second and Eric Carson getting on with a walk at first.
Rio Vista ended the game with a strikeout but the Gladiators went down swinging. Both teams shared a moment of prayer near the mound afterwards in a demonstration of good sportsmanship.
With their guys playing hard, head coach Jon Cady and assistant coach Jackie Cate matched the intensity of their players and were on top of their game keeping their players coached up.