The Brazos Valley Bombers returned to their winning ways Wednesday night, in an extra-inning thriller with the Alexandria Aces. This brings the Bombers’ record back above .500, at 13-12, only two games out of first place in the standings, with only five games remaining in the first half of the season.
The Bombers lead off the tenth with a Trey Porras walk, who was soon pinch-run for by Herb Romero. Romero was then moved over by a sacrifice bunt to get him into scoring position. Catcher John Hale reached on an error and that brought Casey Dykes to the plate with runners at first and third. Dykes grounded to Alexandria third baseman Valentine Helldobler who went to second for the first out, but the Aces were unable to convert the inning-ending double play because of an excellent take out slide by Hale at second base. Romero went on to score what turned out to be the game winning run and the Bombers took a step closer to clinching a playoff birth.
Not only did Trey Porras contribute to the winning run of the ballgame, he also had an excellent day at the plate, going two for four, with a walk, and extending his hitting streak to a modest six games. Second baseman Kevin Wirth also came up big, going a perfect two for two at the dish, scoring once and also walking twice. Pitcher Drew Olsen tossed a superb game for Brazos Valley, giving up seven hits, three runs, and fanning three in eight gritty innings of work.
Brazos Valley will finish up the back half of their two game set with the Aces tonight, and return back home for a weekend series with the Acadiana Cane Cutters. Friday’s game will feature Coach Blair, of the National Champion Texas A&M Women’s Basketball Team, take an official at-bat for the Bombers. Then on Saturday, July 2nd, Brazos Valley Bank Ballpark will be celebrating Independence Day a couple days early with Salute the Troops Night.