Warriors Bats Explode in Double-Header

The Nelson Warriors' baseball team (17-20) opened a four-game series with the Justice Lions by delivering a dominant doubleheader sweep at home, winning Game 1 by a score of 18-8 (8 innings – run-rule) and Game 2, 11-9 (7).

Game 1: Nelson 18, Justice 8 (8 innings – run-rule)
The Warriors trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the third before their offense exploded for six runs – all with two outs. Jimmy Holloway started the rally when he singled to center to drive in Sam Hess. Up next, Adrian Nunez drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases before the Justice pitcher then sailed a pitch to the backstop, allowing all three runners to advance including Ethan Gustafson coming home from third. The pitcher, obviously rattled by the Warriors continuously surrounding him on the base paths, hit Brandon Ramirez on his very next pitch, reload the bases. Gannon Aguilar then lined a single to right to drive in Manny Bracamonte, and Josue Franco Jr. capped the explosive inning with a bases-clearing double to center, giving Nelson a 7-3 lead.

The Warriors kept pouring it on, scoring three more in the sixth, three in the seventh, and five in the eighth, highlighted by a two-run homer from Jimmy Holloway and a three-run homer from Josue Franco Jr., to trigger the run-rule at 18-8 after eight innings.

Game 2: Nelson 11, Justice 9
There was no cool down after game 2 because once the offense got rolling it once again could hardly be stopped. Justice again held a small lead heading into the bottom of the third, this time 4-1, but the Warriors responded with an eight-run explosion. Beginning with back-to-back-to-back home runs (the first occurrence of the season for Nelson) by Adrian Nunez (two-run shot), Brandon Ramirez, and Gannon Aguilar the rally continued when Josue Franco Jr. singled, Adrian Imperial walked, and Gerardo Paco doubled to drive in Franco. Sam Hess then singled to score Imperial, before stealing second and advancing to third on a wild pitch that also allowed Paco to score. The inning was capped off when Jimmy Holloway added a sacrifice fly to drive in Hess, putting the finishing touches on the eight-run inning which further gave Nelson a 9-4 lead.

The Warriors added insurance with solo home runs from Aguilar in the fourth and Nunez in the sixth (each player's second dinger of the game). Justice tried to rally with four runs in the top of the seventh, but Esteban Acevedo came on in relief and recorded the final two outs with two big K's to earn his 4th save of the season and preserve the 11-9 victory.

Josue Franco Jr. was excellent on the day, finishing 4-for-7 with a season-high 7 RBI (all in game 1), and a home run. Gannon Aguilar finished 5-for-7 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI, while Adrian Nunez finished just 2-for-6 but with each hit leaving the park, along with 2 walks and 3 RBI.

On the day, the Warriors recorded 26 hits driving in 25 (on 29 runs scored) and despite all the traffic on the base paths, across the two games left just 11 runners stranded.

See the Nelson Warriors' baseball page for their upcoming schedule.

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