The Pampa Harvesters (13-8, 6-2) started the hit parade early against Perryton, scoring 13 runs in the first two innings en route to a 17-7 win to sweep the Rangers. Junior Tyler Reed went 3-4 in the contest and had a home run to the deepest part of the field (past the 370 feet markers) in the bottom of the second.
“We know that Perryton is coached well and always plays hard, so we weren’t taking them lightly,” Head Coach Austin Samulowitz said. “Our bats, from the get go, were on and we were putting pressure on them. When you are doing that offensively, it leads to defensive pitching. Minus the third and fourth inning, I felt like we played pretty good.”
The Harvesters scored seven runs in the first as they cycled through the order with RBIs for seniors Armando Miranda, Hunter Dyer, Cayson Steward, Hunter Nichols and Reed.
Reed added two more runs in the next inning for Pampa, hitting a home run to center field, plating senior Cruz Juarez.
“Tyler Reed is a second-year varsity player for us and has a really good work ethic,” Samulowitz said. “He comes to work every day and I’m excited to see him bloom. He lost his freshman year because of Covid, played back-and-forth between JV and varsity last year. So now it’s about getting him to play as much baseball as possible. We are finally seeing him bloom into the baseball player he is going to be.”
Steward hit an RBI single following senior Michael Campos’ triple, followed by Dyer’s error-inducing ground ball.
Perryton battled back, scoring seven runs before Pampa scored four more runs in the fifth with an RBI single from Steward, a pitcher’s balk and what would have been an extra-base hit from senior Sam Anguiano for the 17-7 win.
“It was Optimist Day at the ballpark and the future Harvesters were introduced with the team,” Samulowitz said.
“We have a quote in our dugout from Joe DiMaggio that talks about how there is always a kid watching you. That’s a big focus for us. There is always a little kid watching. So for those kids to run out on the field with our guys, they loved it. One day those kids are going to be Harvesters.”
The Harvesters will battle for a share of first place in District 4-4A on Friday when they travel to Canyon.
“We are going to give them heck, I know that,” Samulowitz said. “We are going to play a good Canyon team and hopefully play better than we did last time.”
Stat round-up
Hunter Nichols pitched four innings with five hits, seven runs, two earned runs, three strikeouts and four walks; Tyler Reed pitched one inning with a hit and three strikeouts.
Hunter Dyer scored three runs and had a walk; Armando Miranda went 3-3 with two RBI a run scored and a walk; Sam Anguiano went 1-2 with a run scored, an RBI and a walk; Hunter Nichols went 1-3 with two RBI; Tyler Reed went 3-4 with three runs scored, a double, a home run and three RBI; Michael Campos went 3-3 with a triple and a run scored; Felipe Balderrama scored two runs; Cayson Steward went 2-3 with three runs scored and three RBI and a walk; Troy Perez went 1-2 with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk.
