Thompson gives Rangers a walk-off win

Thompson gives Rangers a walk-off win

Kaleb Thompson hit a run-scoring single in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday afternoon and gave Ranger College a thrilling 11-10 walk-off win over the Hill College Rebels in the second game of a doubleheader at Ellis Burks Field.

Thompson's third hit of the game helped the Rangers salvage a split of the key Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference matchup.

The Rebels sent the game into the ninth with the score knotted at 10-10 by pushing across a run in the eighth. Hill, which had trailed by an 8-1 margin early, scored nine runs in their final six innings.

After allowing the Rebels to score a run in the first inning, the RC offense gave Ranger a big lead. The Rangers tied the game at 1-1 in the second and then pounded out seven runs in the third en route to building an 8-1 lead.

The Rebels, who currently sit third in the NTJCAC standings behind McLennan and Grayson, fought their way back. Hill scored four runs in the fourth and pushed across two more in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game at 9-9.

Both teams added a run from there and went into the bottom of the night with the score knotted at 10-10.

Justin Cooper opened the RC ninth by tripling. One out later, Thompson lined a single to center to secure the victory.

Thompson and Isaiah Ortega-Jones helped ignite the Rangers' fireworks earlier in the contest. Ortega-Jones clubbed his third homer of the season, while Thompson posted his second.

Ricky Gerik, one of five Ranger pitchers to work in the contest, garnered the win.

Hill College took the first game of the twinbill, winning a 14-7 slugfest.

The Rebels blew the game open early. They scored nine runs in the second inning and cruised into the seventh holding a 9-3 cushion. They cemented the win with five additional runs in their final at-bat.

Despite the loss, Ranger picked up a solid performance at the plate from Luis Vargas. He went 4-for-4 in the contest with three runs batted in. Angel Velez also did well, driving in a pair of runs with a clutch hit.

Austin Smith suffered his first loss of the season in Game 1. He fell to 4-1 overall.