Revels tossed a no-hitter with eight strikeouts to lead the Mustangs to a 5-0 win over Rudder in their District 19-5A opener on a windy afternoon at Ranger Field.
“It feels pretty good, especially coming off an injury last year,” said Revels fresh off his first career no-hitter. “It felt like I dominated most of the game except for a couple of little slips, but I fixed it, and I felt good.”
Revels faced just four batters above the minimum and needed only 79 pitches to dispatch the Rangers (2-8, 0-1). The left-hander threw 59 strikes and got into a three-ball count just twice, often using his offspeed pitches to great effect. His only blemishes were three hit batsmen and a walk. It appeared Tompkins had a hit when he drove a ball to deep center field in the fifth, but Connor Phillips made a running, over-the-shoulder catch to preserve the no-hitter.
The only time Revels ran into trouble came in the fourth, when he walked Charlie Fisher and hit Logan Bosley to open the frame. A sacrifice bunt from Jaice Garcia moved both runners into scoring position, but Revels got out of the jam, inducing a groundout with the infield in and a flyout to right field. After allowing Fisher and Bosley to reach, Revels retired 12 of the last 13 batters to close the door on the Rangers.
“We have to have a better approach,” Sanford said. “We have to go up there and hunt the fastball. When we get behind in the count, the pitcher can throw whatever he wants. We’ve got to be selectively aggressive and get the fastball.”
Tompkins threw a complete game, allowing five runs, though only two were earned as the Rangers committed five errors, including three in a two-run sixth. Tompkins gave up 10 hits, six of them infield singles, and walked none while striking out four.
“He pitched his tail off,” Sanford said. “Magnolia West is a good team that’s scored a lot of runs this year, and he gave us a chance to win.”
Magnolia West (11-2, 1-0) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning as Dylan Van Wicklen singled and moved to second on a groundout. He stole third and scored after catcher Rudy Schultz’s throw went wide of the bag.
Magnolia West loaded the bases in the fourth on John Ellwanger’s leadoff single followed by a pair of bunt singles. Tompkins got out of the no-out jam with minimal damage as Ellwanger scored on a groundball double play before Rudder’s sophomore right-hander got Brody Szako to fly out to right.
The Mustangs extended their lead to 3-0 in the fifth as Carson Carpenter reached on a fielder’s choice groundball, stole second and third and scored on Zach Wall’s single. In the sixth, Ellwanger reached on a fielding error and got to the third on Tompkins’ errant pickoff throw to first. Tompkins nearly got out of the jam with a pair of groundouts, but Willie Ibarra singled to score Ellwanger. Ibarra later scored from second on a throwing error.
Van Wicklen and Szako each had two hits to lead Magnolia West, and Carpenter went 1 for 4 with three stolen bases.
“Offensively, we left some runners in scoring position,” Magnolia West coach Justin Faltysek said. “We had some quality at-bats, but [Tompkins] competed really well. I’m proud of the way our guys got the job done.”
Under the new series format for the 19-5A schedule, Rudder will travel to Magnolia West for a rematch at 5 p.m. Thursday.
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NOTE — Faltysek grew up in College Station and attended A&M Consolidated. Brazos Christian baseball coach Jordan Faltysek and St. Joseph baseball coach Jared Faltysek are his brothers, and his nephew, Daylan Faltysek, played football and baseball for Consol before he graduated in 2018. “They couldn’t make it tonight, but they’re always here supporting as well,” Justin Faltysek said. “It’s always good to be back in Bryan-College Station.”
Magnolia West 5, Rudder 0
Magnolia West 010 112 0 — 5 10 0
Rudder 000 000 0 — 0 0 5
Robert Revels and Brody Szako; Trent Tompkins and Rudy Schultz.
W — Revels. L — Tompkins.
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