Baseball is finally here! It’s opening day!
This Sports reporter thinks it is one of the biggest days of the year; it was opening day for the Big Spring Steers Baseball team. After last season got cut short due to the Global Pandemic, it was finally time for the Steers to take the field once again. Big Spring would take care of business in devastating fashion, beating the Rangers 13 to 0.
What a difference a week makes; after a week full of fridged temperatures, you could not ask for a better day in late February for the Big Spring Steers to kick off the 2021 Baseball season. This Monday, Feb. 22, the Big Spring Steers were set to take on the Greenwood Rangers. The first inning began, with Ricky Escovedo getting the mound to start the season. To start the game, Escovedo took charge early in the game; after giving up a couple of early walks, the young Sophomore pitcher would buckle down and get out of the inning, giving up zero runs to close out the top of the first. Heading to the bottom of the first, it was Big Spring who would also get off to a slow start, and the Steers were not able to muster up anything, leaving the score 0 to 0 after the first inning.
The second inning would be a much different story. The young Escovedo would settle down and cruise through his half of the second easily. That would bring the Steers back to the plate, and boy did they deliver. The inning started with Escovedo showing that not only does he have skills on the bump, but the young man has a good eye at the plate. He was able to work the pitcher and eventually talk a walk to become the first base runner of the year. Next up to the plate would be Braxton Sizenbach. He, like Ricky, would show his patience at the plate, causing back-to-back walks. That would bring up Maverick Yanes, who was able to get a single making this the first base hit of the year for the Steers. With the bases loaded, third baseman Jose Cantu stepped into the batters' box, and he would come through for his team. Cantu smashed a base clearing double, scoring three runs. The decisive second inning would not stop there as the young Steers would go on to put up three more runs to close out the 2nd inning with a lead of 6 to 0.
Beginning the third inning, Escovedo had a sixrun lead in his favor. The young pitcher would not allow Greenwood to ever get into a grove mixing up his pitches and keeping the Ranger hitter off balance. Escovedo would finish his day on the mound, not giving up a single run and striking out three on the day. After a substantial second inning, the Steers were not done, they came into the third inning wanting to replicate their results from the previous inning, and they would do just that, putting up another six-run inning, increasing the lead to 12 to 0.
Kyler Seymore would take the mound to start the fourth for the Steers, and the young man picked up where his predecessor left off as he struck out two in his only inning of work and gave up no runs once again. The Steers would step into the batter's box in the bottom of the fourth with a commanding lead of 12 to 0. Big spring would go on to tack on one more run to take the lead 13 to 0.
The Rangers were allowed one more at-bat in the fifth as Eli Cobos would take the mound. Like the previous two pitchers, Cobos was too much for the Rangers as he would end the inning, giving up no runs. The game was then called, and the Steers had notched the season's first victory.
The steers won this game in every aspect of the game. They dominated on the mound; they produced at the plate, they played well in the field, making big plays when they needed to. It was an outstanding opening day performance that the head coach Daniel Carillo was proud of. The fifthyear head coach is a fantastic motivator, and you can see his love of the game and this team. Coach Carrilo has a group of special kids he gets to mold every day. This season could be something special for these young Steers, and it is a journey I look forward to watching.
Photo by Dustin Pope