Yorek Tosses Shutout, T-Birds Advance to Region V Championship

The Thunderbirds stay alive with a 9-0 win over the Odessa College Wranglers on Monday afternoon. 

The T-Birds now advance to the Region V Championship against Weatherford College Monday, May 15 at 5 p.m. CDT. NMJC will have to win today and tomorrow's game to advance to Grand Junction, CO.  

The T-Birds set the tone right away when leadoff hitter Dylan Jasso crushed a solo homer to straight away center to give NMJC an early 1-0 lead.

Josh Pearl had an RBI base knock to center that doubled the lead in the first inning. Erick Ballenilla drove in two more runs with a single to center field to make the score 4-0 after the one inning of play.

Brent Iredale singled home Lorenzo Morresi in the top of the fifth to extend the lead to 5-0. 

Thunderbird starting pitcher Landen Yorek struck out Odessa's Camden Colman in the bottom of the fifth inning to keep it scoreless as Odessa stranded a runner on third. Jasso hit his second solo shot of the day in the top of the eighth to bring the T-Birds in front 6-0.

Luis Gonzalez hit an RBI single to center that brought home Iredale and the seventh run of the day. Ballenilla scored Pearl on a single to left that pushed the lead up to 8-0. Rafael Gross hit a sacrifice fly to score Gonzalez and the final run of the day in the top of the eighth. 

Landen Yorek finished off the Wranglers in the bottom of the eighth to throw a complete-game shutout. The right-handed freshman gave up four hits and struck out five batters in the 9-0 win over Odessa.

Third baseman Dylan Jasso was 4-for-5 with two homers, two runs, and two RBIs on the day. Shortstop Brent Iredale went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Left fielder Erick Ballenilla was 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the 8-0 win Monday afternoon. First baseman Luis Gonzalez scored a run and added an RBI. 

The Thunderbirds play Weatherford College later today at 5 p.m. CDT. If NMJC were to win both games the T-Birds would play in the Region V Championship against Weatherford in a rematch at 1 p.m. CDT Tuesday, May 16.