Roadrunner slips in first game
Team looking to rally against Arkansas
The initial magnitude of the moment might have gotten the best of Roadrunner Little League.
After winning the Little League Baseball Division State Championship for the first time in its nearly 60-year existence, Roadrunner stumbled out of the gates in the Southwest Region Tournament, falling 11-1 to Ascension Parish Little League from Gonzales, Louisiana, in its opening-round matchup at Marvin Norcross Stadium in Waco, Texas, on Thursday afternoon.
Roadrunner spotted its opponent four runs in the first inning and never fully recovered.
“I think initially the weight of it and the newness and the pressure, there was some nerves to start off the game,” said manager Joe Garcia. “I think that cost us there in the first inning.”
Roadrunner cut the deficit to 4-1 in the second when Drew Jackson reached on a walk and eventually scored from third on a passed ball. However, a close play at the plate cost the team another run and a back-breaking fourth-inning saw Louisiana push across four more runs without a single base hit.
“That kind of spelled our doom,” Garcia admitted. “The boys fought and continued to fight. It’s just baseball. This wasn’t our day. Hats off to them as well. They’re a good, solid team — hit well, made some great plays in the field.”
Roadrunner gets to fight another day, as it faces Arkansas at noon Friday in an elimination game. Adversity is nothing new to the team: It lost an early game to Carlsbad before recovering to beat the perennial powerhouse twice in the state tournament. The regionals are a modified double-elimination format, which means a team from the loser’s bracket won’t have to win two games should it reach the championship.
“You hope that you can dip back into that well because that is the truth and that’s what happened,” Garcia said. “We talked about that after the game.”
Regardless of what the future holds, it’s already been a memorable experience. Garcia’s hope is that with the butterflies out of the way, Roadrunner can make a quick turnaround and get back to focusing on baseball.
“We’ve had a lot of stuff with ESPN and they’re running some stories and talking about the Land of Enchantment and the fundraising efforts to get out here,” he said. “It’s been a great experience. It’s been somewhat overwhelming for everyone, as far as the kids, coaches and parents. So I think that’s what kind of led to our initial bit of nerves and took us a little while to settle in. I’m hopeful that we’re actually just playing baseball that we can focus on the game and focus on trying to get a ‘W’ and move forward.”