The Jesuit Ranger Baseball team has been on a roll this season with a record of 21-1-2, currently riding a 12 game win streak. The Rangers have been very dominant this season, usually beating their opponents by 5 or more runs. However, against the Nimitz Vikings the Rangers were tested and answered with late game heroics.
The Rangers trailed 4-0 in the fourth inning against Nimitz on April 7, then started slowly chipping away at the Vikings’ lead. Angelo Winings ’15 scored off a Nic Ready ’15 single in the bottom of the fourth. Then, Chase Jennings ’15 scored thanks to Kyle Muller’s ’16 decisiveness in the fifth. That brought the score to 4-2, where it remained until Bryce Bonner ’16 came through with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the seventh. Bonner stepped up to the plate and crushed a two run shot over the wall, bringing the score to 4-4. This set up a Darius Hill ’15 walk off home run in the bottom of the eighth and allowed the Rangers to continue their win streak. Hill stated, “It was a great win for us as a team, we we’re down to our last out, but Bryce came up clutch in the bottom of the seventh and set me up to walk off the next inning.” The Rangers rode this exciting win into their next game against Nimitz, where they handled them much easier with a 11-4 victory.
Next the Rangers took on district rival, W.T. White Longhorns on April 14, and won the first game of the series with ease winning 12-1. Hill told me, “They threw a pretty good pitcher but we were still able to do some damage early that let us get the win. We took advantage of mistake pitches and errors to pad the lead. Harrison folk was also great on the mound to keep the game out of reach for them.” The next game of the series was the official opening of the newly built Wright Field, and the Rangers had Muller on the mound to pitch in this important game. Muller told me, “The atmosphere was great tons of fans came out to support us and the stadium dedication was cool because it meant that the facility was finished. The rivalry with WT White is always a good one because of how close we are and our games in the past so both teams came out ready to play making it a fun series.” The Rangers held on to win the game 4-3, and advance their win streak to 12 games.
The Rangers look to keep the wins coming heading into the playoffs, and to stay focused in the midst of the excitement. The Rangers are certainly putting together a great season, and it will be exciting to see how far they will go in the upcoming playoffs!
