THRALL — Sophomore Gus Navejas hit a walk-off two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Thrall Tigers to a 3-2 victory over the Rogers Eagles on Tuesday, March 25. Navejas finished 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
Both teams were scoreless in the first inning as Thrall junior pitcher Bryce Brinkmeyer worked out of a jam with runners on first and second. The Tigers went down in order in the bottom half of the first.
Thrall took a 1-0 lead in the second after senior Hayden Heselmeyer advanced to third and scored on back-to-back wild pitches. The pitchers continued to dominate until Rogers broke through in the sixth, scoring twice on a hit-by-pitch and a walk to take a 2-1 lead.
Brinkmeyer finished his outing after 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and striking out six. Sophomore
Weston Smiley came on in relief and kept the Eagles from adding to their lead in the seventh despite issuing two straight walks.
The Tigers started their final at-bat with a walk followed by a single from senior Maverick McAllister to set up Navejas’ late-game heroics. His two-run double secured Thrall’s second walk-off win in three games, following a 6-5 victory over Caldwell.
Thrall improved to 14-2-1 overall and 3-1 in district play. The Tigers closed out their series against Rogers on Friday, March 28, before traveling to Cameron on Tuesday, April 1, for a 7 p.m. game.
Gus Navejas
