Roadrunner defeats Arkansas team to stave off elimination in Little League regional tournament

What a difference a day makes.

Roadrunner Little League bounced back from a disappointing defeat on Day 1 of the Southwest Region Tournament to cruise past Junior Deputy Little League from Little Rock, Arkansas, 9-3 on Friday afternoon at Marvin Norcross Stadium in Waco, Texas.

Roadrunner advances to play Texas West in another elimination game at 6 p.m. Saturday on the Longhorn Network.

“After a loss especially, the thing you want to do is get back on the field pretty much immediately to get all those bad vibes behind you,” said manager Joe Garcia. “We did that, and it was nice to see them respond to some adversity. I shouldn’t be surprised because they’ve been doing that all summer.”

Temperatures reached well over 100 degrees on the field, but the Roadrunner bats were arguably even hotter. Eight different New Mexico players got hits and five drove in runs in the victory. Eric Yturbe, Thomas Whitten and Brycen Rogilllo each had two hits and two RBIs apiece.

Yturbe set the tone with a leadoff double in the first inning, and a Whitten single brought him home one batter later.

“In Albuquerque, that thing is probably out (of the park) by 20 feet,” Garcia said of Yturbe’s hit. “The air is just heavier, the ball doesn’t travel quite the same. He hit right at the top of the wall. It got us going.”

By the fourth inning, Roadrunner had built a 7-0 cushion. That offensive output was backed by 3 2/3 shutout innings from Witten. The early lead changed the entire mood for the team, according to Garcia.

“It’s huge,” he said. “Especially when you feel like you have a good pitcher on the mound. You feel like if you can scratch out a couple, it helps them with their pitch selection. It’s a lot better to pitch from ahead than pitch from behind.”

Roadrunner encountered some peril in the bottom of the fifth inning. Arkansas had already scored two runs and had the bases loaded with one out when Whitten and Yturbe combined on a double play to end the threat.

“That was their last gasp, so it was nice to put that down,” Garcia said. “Just glad to see the boys come through today. It was kind of a sigh of relief for the boys and for the parents.”

After the victory, the team got to unwind at a local Main Event, while Garcia fielded numerous well wishes from back home.

“We know New Mexico’s behind us,” he said. “I’ve gotten probably 50 text messages since we won today with congratulations saying, ‘We’re cheering for you.’”