The Nocona Indians baseball team played Callisburg on Monday night in a game that really went their way.
The Indians won 10-4 in a game they led after the third inning and never looked back thanks to a great fifth inning.
The game started out well on defense as Nocona did not allow a one out single to spiral into anything. Similarly when the Indians were up to bat, a leadoff hit batter could not be taken advantage of as both teams ended the first inning scoreless.
The Wildcats got on the board first. A leadoff double to start the second inning got home thanks to base running and an error trying to throw him out. Two more runs scored on a single a few batters later, upping Callisburg’s lead to 3-0.
Nocona answered that same inning. A leadoff walk from Carlos Castro was later driven in by Jason Sparkman on a triple, cutting the lead to 3-1 heading into the third inning.
Indians’ pitcher Vinit Patel struck out two batters and forced the other to ground out to the short stop as he did not allow any base runners.
After back-to-back singles Anthony Veitenheimer drove in both runs on a triple, tying the score up at 3-3. He would then give Nocona the lead as a balk from the Wildcats pitcher would allow him to come home, the Indians up 4-3 heading to the fourth inning.
Callisburg would put the ball in play all three times it was up to bat, but Nocona’s defense came through with outs every time. On offense the Indians were able to load the bases up with three drawn walks in the fourth inning. With two outs though, they were left stranded when the next batter flew out to center field.
The Wildcats continued to have no answer for Patel as he struck out two while not allowing a single base runner on for the third straight inning.
On offense Nocona again was able to take advantage of free bases, loading the bases up with only one out. This time the Indians came through as Oscar Salgado came in to pinch hit, hitting a double and driving in two runs. Miguel Oliveras and Colton Evans followed with back-to-back RBI singles.
Kooper Hansard would ground out to the short stop, but not before driving in the third straight run. Evans would then steal third base, which put him in position to score on wild pitch, making Nocona’s lead 10-3 after the third out.
The Wildcats did get one run across the board in the sixth inning thanks to an error, cutting the lead to 10-4, but that would be as close as Callisburg would get as the Indians would close the game strong in the seventh inning.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.