Southlake Carroll baseball comes up short in opener of regional semifinal

By Len Hayward

Special to the Star-Telegram

MIDLAND -- On a night where hard-hit balls were hard to come by, it was only fitting that the winning run scored without a base hit.

El Paso Montwood turned a hit batter, three walks and a key error into the game-deciding run in the top of the seventh inning for a 2-1 victory over Southlake Carroll on Friday at Citibank Ballpark.

Game 2 of the best-of-three Class 5A regional semifinal series is set for 11 a.m. today.

The Rams' Eder Erives drew a two-out walk with the bases loaded to bring in pinch runner Ruben Solis for the eventual winning run.

Montwood managed three hits off Carroll starter Greg Maisto, but the Dragons (21-10) also had two errors that led to both runs.

"We made too many mistakes," Carroll coach Larry Hughes said. "We ran through a stop sign in the first inning, and we missed several signals that cost us. We just made too many mistakes, and they played well."

The game was a pitcher's duel as Maisto and Montwood's Saul Avila kept both teams off balance. Avila scattered seven hits over seven innings.

In the seventh, Montwood's Wes Jordan drew a leadoff walk and Eric Soto was hit by a pitch. Both runners advanced on an error. Chris Benitez was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out, but Erives drew a bases-loaded walk.

Hughes said that Sean Thompson will pitch for the Dragons in today's first game.

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