WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Back on the baseball diamond for the first time in a quarter century, Truman opened its 2020 season against Minnesota West Community & Technical College on Friday at the RussMatt Invitational.
The Falcons, who last fielded a team in 1995, put up a strong showing but were defeated 8-4.
Truman jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning. Joseph Mack (Northtown Academy) led the game off with a single before scoring on Henry Gonzalez’s (Notre Dame H.S.) double to center field.
Minnesota West responded with four unanswered runs, tallying single markers in the second and third innings and two in the fourth.
The Falcons, however, pulled to within 4-3 after striking twice in the fifth inning. Juan Almonte (North-Grand H.S.) got things started with a leadoff single and stole second and third base. With one out, Mack walked, and an errant throw by the catcher on his stolen base enabled Almonte to score. Christian Reyes (Taft H.S.) drove in Mack with a base hit.
The Bluejays tacked on two more runs in their half of the fifth inning to extend their advantage to 6-3, but Truman closed the gap to 6-4 in the sixth. Ismael Silva (Speer Community Academy) was hit by a pitch to start the inning. After advancing to second base on a groundout, he came around to score on Ahmir Traylor’s (Lincoln Park H.S.) single to right field.
Minnesota West capped off the run production with a pair in the bottom of the sixth.
Alejandro Montoya (Lake View H.S.) also had a single in the game as the Falcons finished with six hits.
Starting pitcher Alec Telles (Taft H.S.) and reliever Alexis Cotto (Speer Community Academy) each struck out five hitters in their 3.2 and 2.1 innings of work, respectively.
Truman will play Delgado Community College (La.) in a double header Saturday before wrapping up the four-game trip with a single contest against Niagara County Community College (N.Y.) on Sunday.
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