By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
RIO HONDO, TX —The Bobcats Varsity baseball players take an impressive 7-2 overall record into their third tournament of the season this week.
The Bobcats come into the Santa Rosa ISD Tournament fresh off a 15-0 victory against IDEA Quest College Prep. Senior Nathan Ortega scored three runs, and senior Caleb Sandoval, and juniors Marcus Flores and Juan Padilla each scored twice.
Senior pitcher Rodrigo Saucedo earned the win.
The Bobcats started the season with a 16-12 win against Marine Military Academy. They went right into tournament play in the second contest at St. Joseph Academy in Brownsville where they lost to the host team, 5-2, but rebounded the same day against Progreso, 9-1.
Another non-district game was played at Port Isabel that resulted in a 12-1 victory.
The Bobcats’ second tournament in La Villa was arguably a success as they earned wins against the host team (10-1), Monte Alto (15-0), and IDEA Edinburg College Prep (15-0). They lost in the tournament final against Kaufer, 2-0. They earned three hits in the game.
Nevertheless, the team does have offensive firepower. Seven players who have at least 20 plate appearances have a minimum .300 batting average.
Junior Christopher Galvan leads the team in RBIs with nine, followed by junior Marcus Flores and senior Julian Serna each with six.
Runs leaders are junior Juan Padilla (14), senior Nathan Ortega (13), and seniors Cesar Perea and Caleb Sandoval (10 each).
Rio Hondo’s District 32-3A opener is March 21 at Lyford.
The Bobcats are coached by Sergio Gonzalez. The roster includes the following players and their jersey numbers: senior Caleb Sandoval (1), junior Marcus Flores (2), junior Noah Villalobos (3), junior Jeremy Mata (4), freshman Sebastian Gonzalez (5), sophomore Nathan Martinez (8), senior Aidyn Flores (10), senior Nathan Ortega (11), senior Julian Serna (12), senior Rodrigo Saucedo (15), junior Juan Padilla (16), senior Ruben Castellanos *20), junior Christopher Galvan (21), senior Cesar Perea (22), and junior Adrian Betancourt (32).