THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Levelland High School Athletics

LEVELLAND – It was only when Ty Jackson began his foul line to foul line postgame sprints that a West Texas wind which dictated who could hit and where they could hit decided to knock off for the weekend. The Shallowater pitcher finally caught his first big break of the day. Jackson tossed a complete game and earned the 6-3 win Friday for the Mustangs against Levelland at Lobo Diamond in the midst of his club’s frantic four-game stretch against Class 4A teams just ahead of league play in Class 3A. But it didn’t come easy for the right-handed senior, who finished with two earned runs and nine base runners to six strikeouts on 107 pitches. Opposing pitcher Zak Betancourt was efficient on the mound. “We have those tough defensive plays, but we come back no matter what,” Jackson said. “We play together good as a team. Getting that offense behind me is really good. The run support helps. Got to give it to my team. They did good today.” Shallowater (12-1-3) pulled itself together in the fifth inning to overcome a 3-0 deficit. Before that, though, it seemed like the Mustangs’ hot start was about to get chilled by a variety of circumstances. The wind wasn’t always friendly, but it was consistent all-game long. It dumped Eastern New Mexico into the squad’s dugout all game long and kicked a little mound dirt into the mix for good measure at a constant 22-miles-per-hour. Betancourt, a lefty, was not deterred. He wasn’t perfect in the base runners department, but his hand’s automatic alignment with first base kept Shallowater at bay and he successfully picked off a runner. Levelland (7-11) appeared up to the challenge of manufacturing runs. It got all three in the second inning on back-to-back hits by leadoff hitters Zack Estrada and Angel Pena. And, finally, Shallowater committed an error in each inning up to the fourth frame, forcing Jackson to dig deeper before he could get another helping of dirt in the dugout. The senior got out of three of the four innings just fine. “I think he actually got stronger as the game went on,” Mustangs coach Steve Biera said. “He gave up a couple of hits early and as he got in there in the third and fourth innings shut them down a bit. He kept them at bay.” Hayden VanderRoest pulled the team out of its offensive spin in the fifth when he dug a pitch out of the strike zone and drove it down the left field line and off into foul territory on the bounce. That allowed Tyler Williams to score after he put the Mustangs on the board the at-bat prior with a chopper through the left infield. VanderRoest tied the game the next at-bat with an advancement to third on a wild pitch and a throwing error. Eight-hole hitter Blake Carter gave the Mustangs a permanent lead in the sixth inning on an infield looper and the team pushed two more runs across before the contest ended. Betancourt gave up two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings of work before hitting the pitch limit. A Lobos reliever gave up the final run. Shallowater’s win marked its third in a two-day span after defeating Snyder and Monahans on Thursday. Both teams will be back in action Saturday for lasts tastes of non-district play. “We’re clicking together really well as a team,” Jackson said. “It’s just a lot of fun to be a part of it, honestly. Just getting to be with your friends and teammates. Knowing they’re going to have your back no matter what.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Levelland High School Athletics

JACKSON LEADS SHALLOWATER TO COME-FROM-BEHIND ROAD WIN VERSUS LEVELLAND

MIKE GRAHAM

Lubbock Online | 3/16/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Jay Crain