Chanclas win 10-1 in exhibition after Round Rock bows out

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Jonathan Tapia from UTSA and O'Connor High School made his debut with the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio against Texas USA on Saturday night at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Jonathan Tapia, from UTSA and O’Connor High School, made his debut with the Flying Chanclas on Saturday night at Wolff Stadium. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The Flying Chanclas de San Antonio warmed up for the Texas Collegiate League playoffs by cruising to an easy exhibition victory Saturday night, downing Texas USA from the CENTEX League 10-1 at Wolff Stadium.

San Antonio will meet the Brazos Valley Bombers in a best-of-3 divisional series next week. The series will start Tuesday in either San Antonio or Bryan. The series winner will represent the South against the North in a one-game playoff for the TCL title.

The Chanclas’ exhibition game was played in the wake of an announcement earlier in the day that their final two TCL regular-season games against the Round Rock Hairy Men had been called off.

San Antonio and Round Rock were scheduled to close out their respective TCL schedules by playing in San Antonio Saturday night and in Round Rock at Dell Diamond on Sunday.

But those games were scrapped after Round Rock officials said that members of their team had tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.

“With two games remaining in the season, out of an abundance of caution, we felt it was in the best interest of the players and staff to end the season now,” general manager Tim Jackson said in a news release posted on Twitter.

Going into the weekend, the Chanclas and Hairy Men were scheduled to meet three times. On Friday night, the game in Round Rock was rained out.

After the cancellation of the last two games were announced Saturday afternoon, Round Rock finished its season with a 16-11 record.

A Chanclas spokesman said the TCL plans to move forward with playoff games next week. He said it means that Brazos Valley (17-12) and San Antonio (14-12) will meet in a best-of-three series for the South title.

Notable

The Bombers have won four out of six against the Chanclas this season. Most recently, the Bombers swept three games from the Chanclas in Bryan. Earlier, the Chanclas won two out of three in San Antonio at Wolff Stadium.

Brazos Valley downed the Victoria Generals, 4-3, in Bryan on Saturday night. Brazos Valley and Victoria will close out the final regular-season series in Bryan on Sunday.

Rain in Round Rock forces cancellation of Chanclas game

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Victoria Generals center fielder Jonathan Tapia (left) and right fielder Hobbs Price are both from UTSA. - photo by Joe Alexander

Jonathan Tapia (left) and Hobbs Price run off the field as members of the Victoria Generals in a game played at Wolff Stadium on July 17. Tapia has been added to the Flying Chanclas’ roster for the stretch drive of the regular season. – photo by Joe Alexander

The first game of a season-ending series between the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio and Round Rock Hairy Men has been canceled because of heavy rain in Round Rock.

Officials said the game will not be made up, meaning that the series has been reduced to two games.

The teams will play Saturday night in San Antonio at Wolff Stadium and then on Sunday night in Round Rock at Dell Diamond.

Roster moves

Jonathan Tapia, a .356 hitter in 18 games this summer with the Victoria Generals, has joined the Flying Chanclas.

‘Yes, we picked him up last night,’ Chanclas manager John McLaren said in a text.

Tapia is from O’Connor High School and UTSA.

A Chanclas spokesman also said they have added pitchers Jacob Morin from New Braunfels Canyon and Texas Southern University and Nico O’Donnell from Churchill and Fresno State. O’Donnell (6-4, 220) spent his first two years out of high school at Texas.

The two will replace departing John Gaddis and Lance Lusk, he said.

Playoffs looming

Two teams from the South Division of the TCL will make the playoffs.

Round Rock (16-11) and Brazos Valley (16-12) are in the best position to get to the postseason, with the Chanclas (14-12) having an outside shot.

Brazos Valley, playing at home in Bryan, defeated the Victoria Generals 12-4 in the first game of its season-closing series Friday night.

Amarillo hangs on to defeat the slumping Flying Chanclas, 4-2

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Matt Whelan from the University of Texas went to the mound for the Flying Chanclas in the fifth inning and retired three straight batters against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Matt Whelan from the University of Texas went to the mound for the Flying Chanclas in the fifth inning and retired three straight batters. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Struggling all night long, the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio caught a spark in the bottom of the eighth inning. They scored a single run against a shaky relief pitcher to pull within two of the visiting Amarillo Sod Squad.

The Chanclas even loaded the bases with one out. They had the potential tying run at second and the go-ahead at first. But it was just a tease, as the Sod Squad turned a double play in the infield and went on to claim a 4-2 victory Thursday night at Wolff Stadium.

As a result, the Sod Squad took two out of three games in San Antonio and held on to first place in the North Division of the Texas Collegiate League. In addition, the loss for the Chanclas was also meaningful. But not in a good way.

Anthony Forte had the Flying Chanclas' only RBI of the game when his sixth-inning ground ball brought in Jalen Battles from third base against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Anthony Forte had the Flying Chanclas’ only RBI of the game when his sixth-inning ground ball brought in Jalen Battles from third base. – Photo by Joe Alexander

A victory would have vaulted them into second place in the TCL South going into the final three games of the regular season. Instead, they remained in third place, one spot in the standings out of the playoffs, with three games left.

Looking on the bright side, at least they’re still in the playoff chase, which is something of a miracle in that they have now lost five of their last six.

In what is shaping up to be a wild finish, it is now a three-team race between the Round Rock Hairy Men (16-11), the Brazos Valley Bombers (15-12) and the Chanclas (14-12) for the two playoff berths out of the South Division.

Round Rock took the upper hand for the division title with a three-game series sweep over Brazos Valley, punctuated by a 3-2 victory at home Thursday night.

In the first of the final three games of the season, the Chanclas play at the Hairy Men’s home park at Dell Diamond in Round Rock on Friday. They return home to host the Hairy Men on Saturday at Wolff. Then, they return to Round Rock for the finale on Sunday.

Brazos Valley closes at home with three games against the Victoria Generals (9-18).

Holding the upper hand in the North, the Sod Squad (17-10) finishes with three at home against the Tulsa Drillers (15-11). The North race is coming down to Amarillo, second-place Frisco (15-10), Tulsa and possibly the Amarillo Sod Dogs (15-12).

Jacob Montejano from Brandeis High School and Our Lady of the Lake started in right field for the Flying Chanclas on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. Montejano scored the Chanclas' second run of the game in the eighth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad. - photo by Joe Alexander

Jacob Montejano, from Brandeis High School and Our Lady of the Lake, started in right field. He scored the Chanclas’ second run of the game in the eighth inning. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Records

Amarillo 17-10
San Antonio 14-12

Coming up

San Antonio at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m. Friday.

Notable

Victoria Generals standout Jonathan Tapia is apparently joining the Flying Chanclas, according to a Thursday night post on Twitter from a newspaper reporter in Victoria.

Tapia, from O’Connor High School and UTSA, can play the infield or the outfield. Better yet for the Chanclas, he is the TCL’s seventh-leading hitter at .356.

The move came on the same day that the Chanclas reported that outfielder Kyte McDonald (from Antonian HS) and pitcher Riggs Threadgill (Fredericksburg) had left the team.

Both are returning to school. McDonald is on his way back to Mississippi State University, a Chanclas spokesman said, while Threadgill apparently is headed for McLennan Community College.

Chanclas down Sod Squad to end skid, stay in playoff hunt

Image

Jalen Battles doubles to left-center field to drive in the Flying Chanclas' first two runs of the game in the fourth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Jalen Battles doubles to left-center to drive in the Flying Chanclas’ first two runs in the fourth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

After losing four straight games, the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio rebounded Wednesday with a 5-1 victory over the Amarillo Sod Squad, keeping alive hopes for a spot in the Texas Collegiate League playoffs.

A crowd of 591 at Wolff Stadium watched as the Chanclas snapped out of their funk on offense with 10 hits.

They scored two runs in the fourth inning and three in the sixth to back the pitching of Marcelo Perez, Arturo Guajardo and Garrett Egli, who combined on a seven-hitter while striking out 14.

The Flying Chanclas' Johnny Hernandez scores the first run of the game on a double by Battles. - photo by Joe Alexander

Johnny Hernandez scores the first run of the game on a double by Jalen Battles. – photo by Joe Alexander

Perez, from TCU, pitched six scoreless innings, allowed four hits and struck out eight.

Offensive standouts included Jalen Battles, whose two-run double in the fourth gave the Chanclas the lead and some much-needed momentum.

Also, Kyte McDonald ignited the three-run sixth with a one-out double. Ryan Flores highlighted the uprising with an RBI single for the third run of the inning to make it 5-0.

During the four-game losing streak, the Chanclas produced only five runs on 22 hits. In that time, they batted a cool .173 as a team.

Coming into Wednesday night, they had been shut out in two of their last three games and had scored runs in only two of their past 37 innings.

The Flying Chanclas' Grant Smith scores the second run of the game on a double by Jalen Battles in the fourth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Grant Smith, from first base, races around to score on Battles’ blast to make it 2-0. – photo by Joe Alexander

They finally broke through in a two-run fourth. With two outs, Johnny Hernandez singled, Grant Smith walked and Battles drove both of them home with a two-run double off Amarillo starter Jared Lyons.

In the sixth, a walk and then a double off the bat of McDonald set up another big inning, putting runners at second and third with one out.

The Chanclas scored on Smith’s sacrifice fly, a wild pitch and a run-scoring single by Flores, the team’s RBI leader.

Runs-hits-errors

Amarillo — 1 7 0
San Antonio — 5 10 0
Please click on a link here to see Wednesday night’s box score.

Records

Amarillo 16-10
San Antonio 14-11
Please click on a link here to see the TCL standings after Wednesday night’s games.

Coming up

Amarillo at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Thursday. Next, three games vs. Round Rock. San Antonio at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m. Friday. Round Rock at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Saturday. San Antonio at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m. Sunday. (End of regular season).

Playoff races

In the TCL, two teams from each division qualify for the playoffs. With four days left in the regular season, eight teams remain alive — four in the South and four in the North.

In the South, Round Rock and Brazos Valley (both 15-11) are tied for first, followed by the Chanclas (14-11) and the Acadiana Cane Cutters (11-13). Round Rock tightened the race Wednesday with a 5-0 victory at home over Brazos Valley.

The North is also a four-team race featuring the Sod Squad (16-10), the Tulsa Drillers (15-10), Frisco RoughRiders (14-10) and the Amarillo Sod Dogs (14-12). Tulsa beat the Sod Dogs 5-3 on the road in Amarillo.

Flying Chanclas starting pitcher Marcelo Perez went six shutout innings and allowed four hits with eight strikeouts and two walks against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas starting pitcher Marcelo Perez went six shutout innings and allowed four hits, with eight strikeouts and two walks. – photo by Joe Alexander

Chanclas lose fourth straight, drop a spot in divison standings

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Flying Chanclas center fielder Jordan Thompson makes a diving catch on a line drive in the top of the ninth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas center fielder Jordan Thompson makes a diving catch on a line drive in the top of the ninth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The Amarillo Sod Squad continued their push for a North Division title in the Texas Collegiate League, registering a 1-0 victory Tuesday night at Wolff Stadium against the fading Flying Chanclas de San Antonio.

Jose Torres drove in the winning run for the visitors in the seventh inning with a single off Johnny Panatex, which scored Mike Rosario from third. Rosario had reached on a double and moved up on a wild pitch.

Flying Chanclas catcher Tyler LaRue makes a tag for an out at the plate to complete a triple play in the fourth inning against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas catcher Tyler LaRue makes a tag for an out at the plate to complete a triple play in the fourth inning. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Sod Squad starting pitcher Hunter Viets pitched six scoreless innings, and then three relievers out of the bullpen close the door. As a result, Amarillo won its second straight and improved to 5-2 over its last seven.

With the victory, the Sod Squad (16-9) gained a game on the second-place Tulsa Drillers (14-10) in the TCL North.

In the South, the Brazos Valley Bombers (15-10) remained in first place but the Round Rock Hairy Men (14-11) moved into second. The Hairy Men, playing at home, pounded out an 11-6 victory over the Bombers.

It was a significant development in that the victory bumped the Chanclas (13-11) into third place in the South standings with five games to go. Only the top two teams in each division qualify for the TCL playoffs.

If the Chanclas don’t start scoring runs, they won’t make the postseason. Their decline in offensive production has been stunning, as they have lost two of their last three via shutout and have scored runs in only two of their last 36 innings.

Playing at Brazos Valley last weekend, the Chanclas were held to five runs on 14 hits. Their batting average against the Bombers was a cool .147. The Chanclas improved on that a little on Tuesday with eight hits. But they left eight on base, including six in scoring position.

In the ninth inning, they had a chance to win when they loaded the bases with two out. But Amarillo reliever Everett Hurst, the second pitcher of the inning, struck out Johnny Hernandez swinging to end the game.

It was the fourth loss by shutout this season for the Chanclas, and their first at home.

Flying Chanclas shortstop Jalen Battles tags out a runner in a rundown against the Amarillo Sod Squad on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas shortstop Jalen Battles tags out a runner in a rundown against Amarillo. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Runs-hits-errors

Amarillo — 1 7 1
San Antonio — 0 8 1
Please click on the link to see Tuesday’s box score.

Records

Amarillo 16-9
San Antonio 13-11
Please click on the link to see the updated TCL standings

Coming up

Amarillo at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Wednesday. Amarillo at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Thursday. Three games against Round Rock to close the regular season. San Antonio at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m. Friday. Round Rock at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Saturday. San Antonio at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m. Sunday.

Notable

Chanclas starter Austin Krob, from Lisbon, Iowa and TCU, pitched his best game of the year, working five scoreless innings. The lefty gave up four hits and walked two but also struck out five …

The Missions started a triple play in the fourth inning when Johnny Hernandez fielded a ground ball and threw to shortstop Jalen Battles at second base for a force. Battles fired to first baseman Ryan Flores for the double play. Running from second base on the play, Julio Mercano tried to score. But Flores fired to Tyler LaRue, who tagged Mercano sliding head first at the plate …

Amarillo’s Jose Torres, from Calvert Hall High School in Baltimore and North Carolina State University, ranks second in the league with 23 RBI. In 2019, Torres was drafted out of Calvert Hall in the 24th round of the major league draft by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Bombers cruise to third straight victory over slumping Chanclas

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The Flying Chanclas’ bats fell silent once again Sunday night. As a result, the Brazos Valley Bombers rolled to a 7-2 victory at Travis Field in Bryan to hand the slumping Chanclas their third straight loss.

With the win, the Bombers (15-9) finished 4-2 against the Chanclas this week, including a 3-0 sweep at Travis Field, and increased their lead to 1 and 1/2 games in the South Division of the Texas Collegiate League.

The second-place Chanclas (13-10) managed only six hits in falling to a third-straight loss for the first time this season.

Brazos Valley’s Austin Bost drilled a two-run double to spark a three-run third inning. Sean Arnold added a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 against San Antonio reliever Zach DeLeon. The Bombers tallied four more runs in the sixth off Johnny Panatex to make it 7-0.

The Chanclas snapped a streak of 24 straight scoreless innings in the series when they scored twice in the eighth. Lee Thomas drilled an RBI single to center and Bryan Aguilar was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

But the threat ended there when Jacob Montejano’s ground ball forced a runner at second for the last out.

Playoff chase

In the TCL, the top two teams in both the North and South divisions advance to the playoffs. Right now, the Bombers and even the Chanclas, in spite of their swoon, are both in position to make the postseason.

But behind Brazos Valley and San Antonio in the South standings, both Round Rock (13-11) and Acadiana (10-12) remain in contention to claim at least the No. 2 spot. Acadiana, playing at home in Youngsville, La., beat Round Rock 8-5 on Sunday night.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio — 2 6 1
Brazos Valley — 7 6 2
Please click on the link for Sunday night’s box score.

Records

San Antonio 13-10
Brazos Valley 15-9

Coming up

The Chanclas have Monday off. They play six games this week to complete the regular season. The first three are at home, starting Tuesday, against the Amarillo Sod Squad.

Notable

In sweeping the visiting team, Bombers pitching held the Flying Chanclas scoreless for 24 straight innings over most of three games.

The Chanclas scored three runs in the first inning of Friday night’s opener in Bryan.

But after that, they were shut out in the final eight innings of Game 1, in all nine innings of Game 2, and in the first seven innings of Game 3.

Brazos Valley wins 4-0 to take over first place in the TCL South

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Tristan Stivors, Will Johnston and Zach Poe combined on a two-hitter Saturday night as the Brazos Valley Bombers beat the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio, 4-0, in Bryan.

With the victory, the Bombers (14-9) moved into first place in the South Division of the Texas Collegiate League. The Chanclas (13-9) fell into second after losing two straight in Bryan at Travis Field.

Stivors, a right-hander from Medina Valley High School and Texas State, set the tone with four innings of one-hit, scoreless pitching. He struck out seven.

In the fifth inning, the Bombers replaced Stivors with Johnston, a 6-foot-3, left-hander from Texas A&M. With a herky-jerky motion and a heavy fastball, he also pitched four scoreless, allowing no hits. He walked two and fanned five.

When Johnston walked two in the eighth, it broke a string of 20 straight Chanclas batters retired.

Poe issued a one-out walk to Anthony Forte and allowed an infield single to Jordan Thompson, giving the Chanclas hope for a comeback in their last at bat. But Ryan Flores popped out to center field for the second out.

On the last play, Forte was caught straying too far off second base. He was picked off to end it, giving Bombers pitching 17 straight scoreless innings over the last two games.

San Antonio and Brazos Valley will play once more in the regular season, on Sunday night in Bryan. Both have seven games left in the regular season.

In the TCL, the top two teams in both the North and South divisions reach the playoffs.

Behind Brazos Valley and San Antonio, Round Rock (13-10) and Acadiana (9-12) both remain in the postseason chase with a chance to finish second.

Acadiana beat Round Rock 3-0 on Friday night. But Round Rock rebounded to win 10-0 in the second game Saturday.

The series, being played in Acadiana’s home of Youngsville, La., will be completed on Sunday night.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio — 0 2 0
Brazos Valley — 4 11 0
Please click on the link for Saturday’s box score.

Records

San Antonio 13-9
Brazos Valley 14-9

Coming up

San Antonio at Brazos Valley, 7:05 p.m., Sunday, in Bryan.

Down the stretch

After a day off on Monday, the Chanclas return home Tuesday for the first of three games at Wolff Stadium against the Amarillo Sod Squad. They finish the regular season with three against Round Rock.

On Friday July 31, the Chanclas will play at Round Rock’s Dell Diamond. On Saturday, Aug. 1, it’s Round Rock at San Antonio. On Sunday Aug. 2, the teams will return to Round Rock for the regular-season finale.

Notable

The Chanclas have been kept off the scoreboard three times this season, all on the road. In their two previous shutout losses, they fell 1-0 on a two-hitter at Amarillo on July 1. They lost 5-0 on a no-hitter at Acadiana on July 8.

Chanclas starter Lance Lusk wasn’t sharp, but he did complete five innings. He gave up two runs, only one of them earned, on eight hits. He walked two and struck out none.

Bombers right fielder Sean Arnold had a big night. On defense, he had an assist in throwing out a runner at third base to end the first inning. On offense, he went 2 for 3, scored a run and knocked one in. In the fourth inning, he slapped a single that scored Austin Bost.

Manny Garcia continued to torment the Chanclas with two hits and two RBI. In the opener of the series Tuesday in San Antonio, he homered and doubled and drove in five runs. He’s also made three diving catches in the outfield.

With Saturday’s performance, Brazos Valley has now won three of the five games in the head-to-head series against San Antonio.

Bombers catch fire after a slow start and beat the Chanclas, 6-3

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Down by three runs early, the Brazos Valley Bombers rallied behind the clutch hitting of Wesley Faison and Taylor Smith Friday night to beat the Flying Chanclas, 6-3, in Bryan.

Faison, from Texas State University, reached base four times, had three hits and drove in three runs while Smith, from Texas A&M, produced a couple of hits and two RBI.

As a result, the Bombers (13-9) pulled to within a half game of the first-place Chanclas (13-8) in the South Division of the Texas Collegiate League.

Logan Teske, Jack Brinley and Luke Bailey combined to hold the Chanclas to six hits, including only three after the first inning, as the Bombers evened a six-game series at 2-2.

The Chanclas won two of three this week in San Antonio, including the last two at Wolff Stadium.

But as the series shifted to Bryan, the Bombers shrugged off a bad-hair first inning and prevailed on a windy night at Travis Field.

After falling behind 3-0 in the first, they scored two runs in the second inning and one in the third off Chanclas starter Derek Klosowski. They added two in the fifth off Jaime Ramirez Jr. to take charge.

Eight games remain in the regular season for both teams. The Chanclas and Bombers will play again Saturday and Sunday night in Bryan.

In the TCL, the top two teams in each division make the playoffs. Meaning that, if the Chanclas and Bombers remain 1-2 in the South as they are now, they would meet in a best-of-three first round series.

The winner of the two divisional series would meet in a one-game, winner-take-all game for the TCL title.

In the top of the first, Tyler LaRue drove in a run with a single and Lee Thomas added a two-run double off Bombers starter Logan Teske as the Chanclas took a 3-0 lead.

Teske, from Clemens High School and Southeastern Oklahoma, settled down to pitch three scoreless innings.

Bombers reliever Jack Brinley took the mound next and kept the Chanclas off the board for the next three. Bailey closed it out.

The big right-hander gave up a one-out double to Johnny Hernandez in the top of the ninth. But he retired Grant Smith and Kyte McDonald to end it.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio — 3 6 2
Brazos Valley — 6 8 1
Please click on the link to see Friday night’s box score.

Records

San Antonio 13-8
Brazos Valley 13-9

Coming up

San Antonio at Brazos Valley, 7:05 p.m. Saturday, at Bryan.

RBI machine: Chanclas’ Flores drives in three more in 4-3 victory

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Ryan Flores doubled, had a sacrific flying and drove in three of the Flying Chanclas' four runs against the Brazos Valley Bombers on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Ryan Flores doubled, had a sacrific fly and drove in three of the Flying Chanclas’ four runs against the Brazos Valley Bombers on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander

Ryan Flores produced three RBI for a team-best 15 on the season Thursday night in pacing the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio to a 4-3 victory over the Brazos Valley Bombers.

A season-high crowd of 1,521 at Wolff Stadium watched as Chanclas starter Logan Garza pitched into the sixth inning to stifle the Bombers.

With the victory, the Chanclas (13-7) gained a game in the standings against the Bombers (12-9) in a duel for the South Division title in the Texas Collegiate League.

The teams will play another three games starting Friday night in Bryan, all at Travis Field. Both teams have nine to play in the regular season.

With the Bombers playing in San Antonio, the Chanclas made the best of it, winning two of three games this week.

The Flying Chanclas' Jordan Thompson slides into third with a fifth-inning triple against the Brazos Valley Bombers on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. Thompson also walked and scored twice. - photo by Joe Alexander

The Flying Chanclas’ Jordan Thompson slides into third with a fifth-inning triple against the Brazos Valley Bombers on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. Thompson also walked and scored twice. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Brazos Valley cruised 6-1 in the opener Tuesday night to take the lead in the South by a half a game, before San Antonio turned it on with a 15-2 victory Wednesday night.

On Thursday, the Chanclas jumped out to an early lead and then held off the Bombers at the end, improving to 9-3 in their last 12 games.

In the bottom of the first inning, Flores mashed a sacrifice fly ball to center to drive in Jordan Thompson to make it 1-0. In the top of the second, the Chanclas’ defense came up big with their second double play in two innings.

When they came to bat in the bottom half, they made it 2-0 with the help of the help of the Bombers, who committed two infield errors.

Flores drove in single runs in both the fifth and the seventh. In the seventh, he hammered an opposite field drive into the left field corner that scored Thompson and made it 4-1. He was out at third trying to turn it into a triple.

Garza pitched the first five innings and Johnny Panatex entered to take care of the next three.

Garza struck out eight and allowed the only run of the game in the sixth. Panatex was particularly effective, holding the Bombers scoreless on two hits while striking out four.

The Bombers made it interesting in the ninth, scoring twice and putting runners at first and second with two out against Garrett Egli.

Grayson Tatrow, who had two hits on the night, flared one to left that looked like it had a chance to drop for a hit. But Anthony Forte raced in to make the grab for the final out.

Flying Chanclas starting pitcher Logan Garza threw five innings, allowed one run and struck out eight batters to get the win against the Brazos Valley Bombers on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas starting pitcher Logan Garza threw five innings, allowed one run and struck out eight batters to get the win. – photo by Joe Alexander

Runs-hits-errors

Brazos Valley 3 11 2
San Antonio 4 8 1
Please click on the link for Thursday night’s box score.

Records

Brazos Valley 12-9
San Antonio 13-7

Flying Chanclas reliever Johnny Panatex pitched three scoreless innings and allowed two hits while striking out four against the Brazos Valley Bombers on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas reliever Johnny Panatex pitched three scoreless innings and allowed two hits while striking out four. – photo by Joe Alexander

Coming up

San Antonio at Brazos Valley, Friday at 7:05 p.m.

Notable

Flores and Thompson are both on batting tears. Flores, from Corpus Christi Carroll and the University of the Incarnate Word, is hitting .357 on a seven-game batting streak and .323 for the season … In the streak, he is 10 for 28 with seven RBI. He has driven in five runs in his last two games.

Thompson, meanwhile, is batting .538 in his last four games. In that stretch he is 7 for 13 with two doubles and a triple. The former standout at Boerne Champion High School has also scored seven runs. The burst has lifted Thompson’s batting average to .312 …

Flying Chanclas win 15-2 to regain first place in TCL South

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Flying Chanclas starter Marcelo Perez pitched 4.0 scoreless innings on three hits with five strikeouts and three walks on Thursday against the Brazos Bend Bombers at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas starter Marcelo Perez pitched four scoreless innings in a 15-2 victory over Brazos Valley. Perez allowed three hits and struck out five. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Marcelo Perez pitched four scoreless innings, and Grant Smith enjoyed a three-hit, three-RBI night Wednesday as the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio rolled to a 15-2 victory over the Brazos Valley Bombers at Wolff Stadium.

With the win, the Chanclas avenged a 6-1 loss to the Bombers in the series opener Tuesday and moved back into first place in the South Division standings of the Texas Collegiate League.

The Chanclas (12-7) and the Bombers (12-8) will play again Thursday night at Wolff, before the teams move on to play three more starting Friday at Travis Field in Bryan.

Perez, from Laredo Alexander and TCU, was sharp from the beginning.

He kept throwing strikes to challenge the visitors, and the visitors kept making outs. Through the first three innings, Perez had a strike-ball ratio of 32-13. His teammates responded in the bottom half with three runs to take a 3-0 lead.

For his night’s work, Perez pitched four scoreless innings and allowed only three hits. He walked three but he also struck out five.

The Chanclas made up for a poor showing in Tuesday’s series opener by blowing away the Bombers in the middle innings.

After scoring three runs in the third, the Chanclas added one in the fourth, five in the fifth and one in the sixth for a 10-0 lead. Smith, from the University of the Incarnate Word, sparked the uprising in the fifth with a two-run single.

The Flying Chanclas' Grant Smith had three hits, three RBIs and scored three times on Thursday against the Brazos Valley Bombers at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Grant Smith had his second three-hit game in the last four outings. He also drove in three runs and scored three. -Photo by Joe Alexander

Runs-hit-errors

Brazos Valley — 2 5 2
San Antonio — 15 12 2
Please click on the link to find Wednesday’s box score.

Records

Brazos Valley 12-8
San Antonio 12-7

Coming up

Brazos Valley at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Thursday, at Wolff Stadium.

Notable

The Bombers hastened their own demise with wildness and walks. They issued nine bases on balls for the game.

Flying Chanclas left fielder Anthony Forte makes a diving catch on a fly ball that was knocked down by a strong breeze on Thursday against the Brazos Valley Bombers at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas left fielder Anthony Forte makes a diving catch on a fly ball that was knocked down by a strong breeze on Wednesday against the Brazos Valley Bombers at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander