Flying Chanclas win 15-3 as Tyler LaRue leads a massive rally

Trailing by two runs early, the Tyler LaRue-led Flying Chanclas de San Antonio poured it on late for a 15-3 victory Saturday night against the Round Rock Hairy Men.

The game was played in Round Rock at the Dell Diamond.

The Hairy Men took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. But after that, it was all Chanclas as they scored a season-high in runs courtesy of three errors, eight walks and six hit batsmen by the beleaguered home team.

Batting out of the seventh spot in the lineup, LaRue produced a season-high four hits, including a triple. He also scored twice and had a season-high three RBI.

LaRue, a former standout at Blanco, put on a show in the sixth inning when he belted a ball into deep center field. After it was fielded near the warning track, he rounded second, kept churning with surprising speed and slid in feet first for a triple.

Leyton Barry followed with a double to drive in LaRue, lifting the Chanclas into a 5-2 lead. Both Barry and Ryan Flores had two hits each in the game, with Flores driving in a pair of runs.

Chanclas bullpen pitching also excelled. The relief corps of Jaime Ramirez Jr., Zach DeLeon and Garrett Egli combined to limit the Hairy Men to one run and two hits over 5 and 1/3 innings.

For Ramirez, a left-hander from Holy Cross High School, it might have been his best performance of the season. He worked 2 and 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up only one hit and walking one. Ramirez struck out three.

The Round Rock bullpen and defense cratered in the eighth inning, when the Chanclas scored four runs, and in the ninth, when they tallied six.

The Chanclas have won two straight against the Hairy Men leading into Sunday’s series finale in San Antonio at Wolff Stadium. Overall, they’ve won six of their last eight.

Before Saturday, life on the road had not been very good for the Chanclas in their first season in the Texas Collegiate League.

They had lost four of their first five road games, including two by shutout and one by a no-hitter/shutout, coming in a 5-0 loss Wednesday at Acadiana in Youngsville, La.

But, with the run-away victory at Dell Diamond, they seemed to break the spell, improving to 2-4 in games played away from home.

Notable

Both teams reported via Twitter immediately after the game a final score of 14-3. The box score on the Texas Collegiate League website reported it on Sunday afternoon as 15-3.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio 15 12 1
Round Rock 3 8 3
Please click the link for Saturday’s box score.

Records

San Antonio 6-4
Round Rock 6-5

Coming up

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

Acadiana Cane Cutters no-hit the Flying Chanclas, 5-0

Three Acadiana Cane Cutters pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter in front of the home fans Wednesday night in a 5-0 victory over the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio.

Set back by the loss of two injured starters, the Chanclas never got it going against the Cane Cutters, who pulled off the no-no on the strength of efforts by pitchers Brandon Mitchell, Nik Millsap and Hunter Meche.

The Texas Collegiate League game was played at Fabacher Field in Youngsville, Louisiana.

With the victory, the Cane Cutters snapped a four-game losing streak and avenged losing all three games against the Chanclas last weekend in San Antonio. The Chanclas had won four straight.

Mitchell, a left-hander, and Millsap, a righty, grew up in Texas. Mitchell, from Alief-Elsik High School, attends the University of New Orleans. Millsap, from South Lake Carroll, goes to college at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La. Meche, a lefty from Rayne, La., attends LSU-Alexandria.

Mitchell worked 2 and 1/3 innings. In the third, he gave way to Millsap, who pitched 4 and 2/3 innings, striking out three. Meche finished up over the final two innings. The three combined for six walks and eight strikeouts.

The Chanclas had runners at first and second with one out in the ninth against Meche. But the 5-foot-9 lefty settled down, retiring Lee Thomas and Grant Smith both on outfield fly balls to end it.

San Antonio entered the game without their leading hitter, Porter Brown, and their starting third baseman, Conner Shepherd. Brown is out for the season and Shepherd is out for at least a week. Both have finger injuries.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio 0 – 0 – 4
Acadiana 5 – 4 – 1

Please click the link for Wednesday night’s box score.

Records

San Antonio 4-3
Acadiana 2-5


Pregame

Forced to make adjustments in the wake of two key injuries, the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio will put a four-game winning streak on the line tonight.

They’re playing the home-standing Acadiana Cane Cutters. Youngsville is located about 10 miles south of Lafayette.

In the wake of injuries to standouts Porter Brown and Conner Shepherd, Chanclas manager John McLaren sent out a lineup card with Leyton Barry starting in left field for Porter Brown, who is out for the season with a broken finger.

Tyler LaRue will start at third base for Conner Shepherd, who is out for at least a week, also with a finger injury.

Brown, leading the Chanclas with a .375 batting average, had been in the top spot in the batting order, with Jordan Thompson hitting second. Tonight, Thompson is leading off with second baseman Johnny Hernandez batting second.

Tuesday night’s series opener between the teams was canceled due to unfavorable field conditions, meaning the teams will play tonight and Thursday night. The Chanclas swept three games from the Cane Cutters last weekend in San Antonio.

Chanclas starters

Jordan Thompson RF
Johnny Hernandez 2B
Ryan Flores 1B
Kyte McDonald CF
Tyler LaRue 3B
Lee Thomas DH
Grant Smith SS
Leyton Barry LF
Nick Wolff C
Austin Krob P