RIO HONDO — There are good days and bad days in baseball, and for the Rio Hondo Bobcats, Friday was simply a bad day.
With their bats cold and pitching struggling, the Bobcats could not keep pace with the hard-hitting Progreso Red Ants, who handed them a tough 9-1 home loss.
The Red Ants (2-1) hit the outfield gaps early and often, and jumped on top of the Bobcats (1-2) with a four-run inning to start the game. They finished the day with eight earned runs on 10 hits.
“We swung the bats early and got some early runs, which gave our pitcher confidence,” said Progreso head coach Isaac Hernandez. “It also gave our defense a lot of confidence. In our game against Hidalgo (on Tuesday) we didn’t swing our bats and today we did. We played good — we played sound.”
Red Ants starting pitcher Thomas Davalles tossed six scoreless innings and struck out five batters, allowing just one earned run for the win. Meanwhile, Rio Hondo’s Justin Villarreal took the loss after allowing five earned runs on six hits in 1.2 innings.
For Rio Hondo, its defense turned in a solid performance, turning a pair of 5-4-3 double plays on the day, but the Red Ants’ bats along with a lack of aggression at the plate or on the mound cost the Cats.
“At the plate we can be more aggressive because we watched a lot of pitches go by,” Rio Hondo head coach Sergio Gonzalez said. “It’s tough to pitch against any team when you’re not throwing strikes. When you fall behind, now you’re pitching 3-1, full counts and our pitcher gets to a high pitch count. We put the ball down the plate and (Progreso) took care of business.
“We have to focus on Raymondville Tuesday so we can have a chance to go 2-2 in district.”
Up one in the top of the first with two outs and the bases loaded, Red Ants right fielder Isaiah San Roman hit a double to center field to bring in a pair of runs, with a third following after an error in the Rio Hondo outfield. Progreso led 4-0 at that point.
After falling behind 6-0 after a two-RBI single by the Red Ants, Rio Hondo’s Villarreal was pulled from the mound in favor of Levi Oviedo, who eventually got the hook after loading the bases in the top of the fifth and walking in Progreso’s Jose Meza to make it 7-0.
By end of the inning, Progreso led 9-0, but the Bobcats avoided the shutout, scoring their lone run on an RBI single from Jesse Atkinson, who finished the day 2 for 4 with an RBI.
Aside from picking up the win, Progreso’s Davalles was 3 for 4 with two RBIs.