Apr 24, 2015 4 min read

Tyler Herman, the speedy leadoff hitter for the Brownsville High School baseball team, had a big game Friday. He was 3-for-3, scored a run and had three RBI.

Then, the top of the second inning ended.

Yes, it was another long afternoon – the second day in a row – for the Washington pitching staff against the hard-hitting Brownsville lineup.

One day after its 10-run rule victory over Washington in a showdown for first place in Section 2-AA, Brownsville scored seven runs in the top of the first inning of the rematch and cruised to a 19-5 victory over the Prexies at Colt Field in Washington Park.

Catcher Shane Roebuck led Brownsville’s 17-hit attack by going 3-for-3 with a grand slam and seven RBI. Kenny Ryan was 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles and three RBI. Herman also had four hits.

The two losses to Brownsville (7-0, 10-1) by a combined score of 30-5 left no doubt in the mind of Washington coach Rocky Plassio that the Falcons are the best team in the section and one of the top hitting clubs in Class AA.

“Brownsville has always been a good hitting team,” Plassio pointed out, “but the display they put on the last two games was unbelievable. That’s the best-hitting team I’ve ever seen. From 1 to 9 in the order, and their bench guys, they can all hit. They have some guys who are really seeing the ball well. … They’re the section champs for a reason.”

Brownsville still has five section games remaining and 1½-game lead over Wash High (6-2, 6-3), but it will be extremely difficult for any team to beat the Falcons, let alone catch them in the standings before the regular season ends. The Falcons’ hitters are making too many pitchers look like batting practice fodder. Brownsville has scored 47 runs in its last 15 innings.

“I was just telling my assistant that I’ve been in this game for 23 years and I’ve never seen anything like the stretch we’re in,” Brownsville coach Scott Roebuck said. “It’s just one of those freaky things.”

There was nothing freaky about Brownsville’s first-inning success against Washington starting pitcher Jonathan Spina, who simply did not have his best stuff. The Falcons used an aggressive approach at the plate and scored seven runs on seven hits.

“Spina likes to get ahead in the count and use his off-speed pitches later in the count,” Scott Roebuck said. “A lot of our seniors have faced him since they were sophomores, so they knew they had to get to Jon early in the count. If he gets ahead of you, then he’ll drive you crazy with off-speed stuff on the outside corner. The plan was to get a fastball to hit early in the count.”

Brownsville didn’t waste any time. Spina’s first two pitches of the game resulted in base hits, and the Falcons had four hits and a 2-0 lead only six pitches into the game.

“I told the guys before our first at-bat that if we can get some runs early, then it might put a little doubt in (the Prexies’) minds,” Scott Roebuck said.

Though down 7-0 after a half-inning, Washington battled back and scored four times in the bottom of the first against Brownsville starter Cory Lent. Jordan West tripled and scored on a single by Spina, and Kurt Adkins had a run-scoring hit. The Falcons also committed two errors in the inning.

But after the rocky start, Lent settled down and worked the outside corner for strikes. Wash High had only two hits the rest of the way, one a double by Spina leading off the fifth. Spina scored on a groundout by Jordan Mooney.

Brownsville pulled away by scoring seven runs off Wash High reliever Kevin Patterson in the top of the second. Ryan had a two-run homer.

Shane Roebuck capped his big day with a fifth-inning grand slam.

Wash High used five pitchers with only Chris Gouin having much effectiveness. Gouin gave up three runs, all unearned, in 2 1/3 innings.

“We have to find a way to stay ahead of some other teams and make the playoffs,” Plassio said. “Once you get to the playoffs, anything can happen.”