The baseball team traveled to Slaton to take on the O’Donnell Eagles in the Bi-District match-up. The Wolverines came out on top, with a score of 8-7. They earned another gold glove and advanced to the next round of playoffs. The next game will occur on Thursday at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview against the Kress Kangaroos. The game starts at 4:00.

“The team did great the other day. I’m super proud of them and couldn’t have asked for more,” senior Davey Crandall said. “They stuck to it the whole way and didn’t let anything get to them.”

Sophomore Xavyer Mosqueda knocked the ball out of the park and brought in two runners plus himself. Bumping the score to 7-4.

“Whenever I made contact with the ball, I knew it was a solid hit, but in my head I wasn’t thinking a home run,” Mosqueda said. “I saw the left fielder give up on the play and I was confused until I looked the dugout and they were clearing out.”

This was the first out-of-the-park home run for Mosqueda, besides in practice.

“I realized I hit it over the fence, and it was cool,” Mosqueda said. “I felt really good running around the bases and it was a really big turning point for the game.”

Everyone had a decent game, but Crandall noticed a few good things from some teammates.

“Of course X and his three-run bomb. That was huge for the program,” Crandall said. “We were tied up and they were kind of gaining momentum. That shot shut it down and kept them at bat for awhile.”

Crandall was in the catcher position during this match-up.

“Personally, I didn’t have the greatest game. I didn’t hit the ball well and had some lazy mistakes behind the plate,” Crandall said. “I’ll get it cleaned up though before Kress and be at the top of my game. Overall, I’m glad the team came to play and were able to pick up my slack.”

Mosqueda pitched for 3.1 inning before a pitcher switch.

“I think my performance was very crucial to the game, especially the pitching aspect,” Mosqueda said. “They only scored two runs on me, I had six strikeouts. My pitching was on that night.

After Mosqueda, senior Evan Deleon took the mound. The Eagle’s caught up, tying the score.

“Once my pitching started to fall apart, they brought in Evan and he did great,” Mosqueda said. “We had big plays across the field. Slade was making plays. Tyler was getting some stretches. There were some big plays from all of us, but there’s still things to polish up on.”

Although Crandall claims he struggled at bat, he was able to hit an in-field home run to win the game.

“That last shot was nothing short of lucky,” Crandall said. “I knew going up there I just needed to be a hitter and get on base. Josh and X were both hitting great that day and I knew they would bring me in once I got on.”

Crandall opened up the final inning, and hit one right past short stop and into the outfield.

“I saw Deleon start jumping and waving me around because the left fielder made an error. I tried to run as fast as my slow self could and as I was coming home I saw O’Donnell’s catcher start to jump and I knew I was in.”

The team ran out of the dugout to celebrate the home run and Bi-District win.

“I slid in and celebrated with my team. After the short celebration with my boys, I knew I got lucky and luck can only get you so far. It was a great feeling to get the walk-off, but I knew I would need to do better next game.”

The Wolverines had a successful game and hope to carry that into the game this week.

“The boys had a good game,” fan Susan Templeton said. “I got nervous there at the end, but when Davey had that hit everyone went crazy. I am glad they came out on top.”

Before the Regional Quarterfinal round, they have easy fixes to make in order to beat the Kangaroos.

“As a team and personally, defense is going to need to improve,” Crandall said. “I know Kress is a team of hitters.”

Crandall traveled to watch the Kangroos in their Bi-District game.

“They will swing the bat and put the ball into play,” Crandall said. “We need to be prepared to handle that and find some outs in the field rather than relying on our pitching to do the work.”

The Wolverines know what it takes to crush the Kangaroos.

“We just need to keep our heads and not get consumed in the game,” Crandall said. “The main thing is we need our boys to focus on every play and keep the game in front of them.”