Baseball and softball are now in full swing, and the Lady Roadrunner and Roadrunner basketball teams are heading into their conference tournament seasons hoping to earn a trip to their respective national tournaments.
Following is a heads-up on upcoming events, along with a recap of the past week.
REGION XIV BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT:
Both Angelina College basketball teams earned berths in the upcoming Region XIV tournament tipping off round on Tuesday at Tyler Junior College’s Wagstaff Gymnasium.
The men’s opening round takes place on Tuesday, and the Roadrunners (14-15, 8-11) will enter as the 7th seed. AC’s men will face 10th-seeded Bossier Parish Community College at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to Thursday’s quarterfinals (that game also will tip off at 6 p.m.).
AC and BPCC squared off just once this season, with the ‘Runners taking a 56-53 overtime thriller at Shands Gymnasium back on Dec. 10.
Head coach J.J. Montgomery and Ra’Kim Hollis have led the ‘Runners to the tournament in each of their first two seasons as a coaching staff.
The Lady Roadrunners (16-12, 9-7) captured the 4th seed, extending head coach Byron Coleman’s tournament-appearance streak. In his 19 years as AC’s head coach, Coleman’s teams have never missed out on the conference tournament.
AC’s ladies will face No. 5 seed Panola College Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Lady ‘Runners and Fillies split their season series, with each team winning at home. AC hammered the Fillies 66-50 on February 15. The winner advances to Friday’s semifinals against the winner of the Blinn/Jacksonville game. Friday’s semifinal game will tip off at 1 p.m.
Here’s the link to all the tournament information, including the link to the live stream:
https://www.njcaaregion14.com/sports/NJCAA_Region_XIV_Basketball_Tournament_2023
Roadrunner Baseball:
‘Runners earned a split with Tyler Junior College on Wednesday, rallying for a 7-4 win in the opener before falling by the same 7-4 score in the nightcap.
In the early game, Heladio Moreno drove in three runs with a bases-loaded triple in the bottom of the second inning. Mason Swidersky also added an RBI triple, and Christian Letendre drove in a pair of runs. Trip Cromer added an RBI to the total. Peyton Fosher earned the mound win, striking out five in four innings; Taylor Seay threw two and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief; and closer Tyler McCuistion came on in the seventh to face one batter with the Apaches’ tying run at the plate. McCuistion struck out the one hitter he faced to earn the save.
On Saturday, the ‘Runners ran into a red-hot Panola College team in Carthage, falling 11-0 before losing on a heartbreaking walk-off in a 6-5 loss in the nightcap.
With Wednesday’s win, AC head coach Jeff Livin is just five wins away from his 800th career win.
The ‘Runners face Northeast Texas Community College in a conference doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. at Poland Field on the AC campus.
AC then will host non-conference opponent Joliet College in a Saturday twin bill starting at 2 p.m.
Lady Roadrunner Softball:
The Lady ‘Runners loaded up on games this past week, playing three doubleheaders: home against Tyler Junior College on Wednesday, then a pair of road trips to Bossier Parish Community College on Friday and Trinity Valley Community College on Saturday. Impressively, the Lady Roadrunners were able to go 3-3 in that brutal stretch against conference foes (those games were not considered conference games; AC starts conference play on March 15).
In the Tyler win, Emma Kovasovic launched a deep fly ball for a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Kaetlyn Dunbar with the winning run in extra innings. Haley Primrose homered and knocked in three runs, and Skyler Martin drove in another run. Mia Gilmore went the full nine innings in the pitching circle to earn the win.
In Friday’s 8-2 win at Bossier Parish CC, Hailey Fuentes doubled twice and drove in three runs, while Baker and Martin added two RBI each. Gilmore again went the distance for the win, striking out five Cavs in seven innings.
Finally, on Saturday, AC salvaged the split with a 7-6 win in the nightcap. Baker blasted a two-run homer, and Dunbar, Primrose and Lace Tangianau knocked in a run each. Pitcher Morgan Louviere picked up the circle win, striking out six Cardinals over seven innings.
The Lady ‘Runners (8-10) will get a much-needed week off this week, with the next game the home doubleheader against Alvin College on Wednesday, March 15 in the conference opener for both teams. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Lady Roadrunner Field.
NOTE: Currently, we are working to re-establish our live streaming channel with Presto Sports. We have been in contact with Presto’s technical crew, and we’ve been assured we’ll have our channel up and running within the next week or so. In the meantime, we’ve been able to live stream some of our home baseball and softball games on our AC Athletics YouTube channel (roadrunner_athletics). Follow us on social media for streaming and game updates. Twitter: @ACAthletics; Facebook: Angelina College Athletics.
