Pflugerville senior pitcher Tristan Tijerina (No. 4) is greeting by teammates after scoring in RBI Austin’s Game 1 victory of Rangers YA. Although he expected to only get spot duty as a pitcher in the regional tournament, Tijerina pitched 6 2/3 innings to propel RBI Austin into the regional title game on Sunday.
RBI Austin, Astros win final games to set up regional final rematch
Game 4 Final: RBI Austin 5, El Paso Border Athletic Association 3
Buckle your seat belts, baseball fans, as we have a three-way tie for first at the 18U Southwest Regional @mlbrbi baseball tournament.
After #AstrosRBI defeated @rangersya to reach 3-1, @austinrbi followed suit with a gritty 5-3 win against a tough opponent in @elpasobyaa.
The star of the game was Pflugerville senior pitcher Tristan Tijerina (No. 4).
Coming off an injury-filled year, Tijerina came into the tournament thinking he could only pitch two innings at a time. But down 2-0 in the first inning and his team’s championship hopes at stake, Tijerina came in and pitched 6 2/3 innings, shutting down El Paso and forcing a three-way tie atop the group with Astros RBI and #NOLAya.
LBJ’s Walker Kohler, made big plays at the plate as a hitter and behind it as a catcher. He ignited #rbiaustin‘s first rally with a base hit and made a huge play throwing out an El Paso runner at third to end a threat.
Austin High senior Victor Mendoza delivered a clutch run-scoring single and made multiple plays from shortstop to keep El Paso at bay.
Based on the tiebreaker (runs allowed), Astros RBI and RBI Austin are your championship combatants, and NOLA Youth Academy unfortunately loses out on the tiebreaker.
First pitch is at 11 a.m. at Dell Diamond on Sunday. The Astros have won 10 and the last 12 Southwest Regional tournaments, and one of those losses came last year to RBI Austin.
Will RBI Austin repeat? Will Astros RBI avenge last year’s result and their Game 1 defeat this year?
It should be a great game tomorrow morning between two worthy championship contenders. The winner advances to the @mlbrbi World Series in Vero Beach, Fla.