Flying Through Familiar Territory
Tompkins feeling déjà vu en route to strong start to 2019
Jan 16, 2019, 5:40 pm
The Falcons are steep in quality depth. Via Vype
Originally Appeared on Vype
This new year 2019 feels a lot like 2017 for Tompkins.
That year, the Falcons were Class 6A state finalists, and seemed to be bound for Georgetown every season thereafter for a while due to the talented freshmen on the roster. But while last year was far from shabby, a regional finalist finish felt like a letdown.
"What we took from last year is we weren't that much of a team, and we needed to be more connected," junior forward Barbara Olivieri said. "This year, every girl is giving their all and we're all working together. When you have that type of bond, it doesn't matter who's out there, you can still look really good."
Indeed, the Falcons are feeling a bit of déjà vu after topping 2018 state semifinalist McAllen, 4-0, in the Falcon Bracket championship of the 64-team I-10 Shootout at Legacy Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Tompkins (6-0) routed the Bulldogs even with starters Lauryn Wild, Jullietta Haro, Avery Burchett and Sofie Wolf out of action.
The Falcons are steep in quality depth. While Olivieri and junior forward Skylar Parker, who admirably played well moving to the defensive midfield, starred, as per their ways, others like senior Carrie Gerdes and sophomores Kayla Eshbaugh and Jennifer Pham filled in nicely.
Oh, and sophomore forward Felicia Hernandez. It was Hernandez, after all, who tallied a hat trick with three goals against McAllen, emerging as yet another prominent playmaking threat for coach Jarrett Shipman alongside Parker and Olivieri.
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Astros plunge deeper into misery with series loss to Nationals
Apr 22, 2024, 7:37 am
Justin Verlander allowed two runs and four hits over six innings to win his season debut for the Houston Astros, 5-3 over the Washington Nationals on Friday night.
The 41-year-old right-hander, who began the season on the injured list because of right shoulder inflammation, struck out four and walked none, throwing 50 of 78 pitches for strikes in his 258th win.
“He looked really good," Astros manager Joe Espada said. "Efficient, threw a ton of strikes.”
Verlander (1-0) averaged 94.3 mph with 35 four-seam fastballs and induced five groundouts. The nine-time All-Star retired the side in order four times and improved to 5-0 with a 2.08 ERA in five regular-season starts against the Nationals.
Ildemaro Vargas hit an RBI single in the third and Riley Adams homered in the fourth, cutting Washington’s deficit to 4-2.
Verlander had made a pair of minor league injury rehabilitation starts.
He retired his first eight batters before Adams doubled off the base of the wall in right-center field.
“Yeah, pleasantly surprised, honestly," Verlander said. “I kind of tried to cram spring training into three starts and control wasn’t quite what I would have liked. The rehab starts and then just look at mechanics and try to find something to make it click. I think what I worked on between last start and this start, just being a little more directional.”
Verlander was 13-8 with a 3.22 ERA last year for the New York Mets and Houston, who acquired him ahead of the trade deadline. Espada was hopeful Verlander could key an early season turnaround.
“It’s very important," Espada said. "Despite how we started, it’s a long journey. we need him to lead us through this season. We have been in this before. We just got to be patient, continue to fight and once this rotation gets healthy and we start hitting our stride it’s going to be fun.”
Josh Hader allowed Jesse Winker's sacrifice fly in the ninth and got his second save, striking out his final two batters.
Houston (7-14) stole five bases and stopped a three-game losing streak. Jeremy Peña and Mauricio Dubón had three hits each, Yainer Diaz doubled twice, and Kyle Tucker doubled, singled, walked twice and stole two bases.
Washington manager Dave Martinez was ejected by plate umpire Cory Blaser for arguing a caught stealing call against Vargas that ended the eighth. The Nationals are celebrating the fifth anniversary of their 2019 World Series win over Houston in seven games.
MacKenzie Gore (2-1) allowed three runs and seven hits in four innings.
“Frustrating," Gore said. "But it was kind of one of those things where it wasn’t bad. We had a chance. I thought the bullpen was really good again. I just wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t terrible. I just need to be a little better.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Espada says LHP Framber Valdez played catch Friday and felt well. Espada expects Valdez to throw a bullpen session of 30-40 pitches this weekend.
UP NEXT
RHP Ronel Blanco (2-0, 0.86) starts Saturday for Houston against RHP Trevor Williams (2-0, 3.45).