HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Odessa High blanks Big Spring, 10-0, in nondistrict action

The Odessa High baseball team opened its final week of nondistrict play Tuesday with a 10-0 victory over Big Spring at Pressly Field.

Jordan Munoz scattered six hits over four shutout innings to get the win, while Hervey Nieto had two doubles, the second of which drove in two runs in the fifth inning to end the game on the 10-run rule.

The Bronchos (10-2) totaled just six hits, but benefited from nine walks, two hit batters and three Big Spring errors. Big Spring (6-6) finished with seven hits, but Odessa High played error-free defense and Munoz issued just one walk.

“I don’t even know what to say after that game,” Odessa High coach Joshua Hulin said. “It was one of those games that kind of happens sometimes, especially when teams are playing four, five or six games on the weekend and then you’ve got the midweek game where guys are out of pitching. We obviously didn’t see their best guys on the mound.

“I was really proud of our guys. They stayed in the game. They stayed focused. They stayed energetic in the dugout. At the end of the day, the result … we just had some tired ballplayers out there, was what it looked like.”

Munoz, who struck out five, repeatedly avoided trouble despite allowing base runners in every inning. In the first, he worked out of a two-on, no-out situation. Back-to-back singles in the third failed to produce anything for the Steers when Noah Gonzales was thrown out attempt to stretch his hit. Consecutive one-out singles in the fourth were nullified by a strikeout and a force play.

“It encourages me a lot,” Munoz said. “I know if I can do that against these types of people, I can do that against other teams. It just boosts up my attitude when I’m pitching.”

Munoz said he relied on his fastball to set things up, then went to his curve to get groundballs when needed. Only one out during Munoz’s stint was made by the outfield.

“I just let my defense work,” he said. “The consistency of how good my defense is out there is what makes it easy to pitch.”

Hulin said Munoz’s outing was a key for the Bronchos.

“Jordan does a great job of pitching to contact,” Hulin said. “His pitch count today (64) was actually a whole lot higher than it has been. He’s just been very efficient, and that’s what we like about him on the mound.

“He works fast and lets his defense work. He did that today, too.”

Big Spring starter Deryk Renteria, one of six pitchers the Steers used, went 2 2-3 innings in taking the loss. He was charged with four runs, three earned, on three hits with two walks and a strikeout.

Munoz singled in a run in the first, then Nieto doubled to start a two-run second in which both runs scored on errors. Odessa High added two more runs in the third without a hit, then ended the game with five runs in the fifth.

Nieto, who finished 2 for 4, sent a drive to the right-field wall with two outs to drive in the final two runs.

“I felt a lot of pressure with two outs,” Nieto said. “It was getting a little late. I was just thinking to get the ball to the outfield and score runs.

“My first at bat was pretty good, but the next two at bats after that (both groundouts) were a little sloppy. That last one, I just felt more confident.”

Gonzales and Elijah Munoz both went 2 for 3 for Big Spring with Aaron Olague going 2 for 2.

Odessa High’s Gibrian Pena, Bobby Salinas and Charles McClure each had an RBI despite not recording a hit.