By DENNIS SILVA II
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
Despite a slew of injuries that have had a dramatic domino effect on their lineup, Laredo salvaged a potentially devastating weekend by sweeping Sunday’s two games against Amarillo.
After the Dillas swept the Broncos by a combined score of 14-3 on Saturday, Laredo tallied wins of 15-11 and 6-4, respectively, on Sunday in front of a crowd of 1,006 at Veterans Field.
The two clubs finished a suspended contest from June 7 before engaging in a seven-inning affair.
In spite of having two of their top hitters sidelined with injuries on Sunday, the Broncos improved to 20-19 as the Dillas fell to 24-14.
Amarillo still sits firmly in first place in United League Baseball while the Broncos are in fourth place, three games back of second place and the final spot for qualifying for the playoffs in the first half of the season.
Broncos slugger Edgard Clemente, who had missed the previous six games with an injured shoulder and was nowhere near full health on Sunday, made a dynamic return in the second game.
Roberto Clemente’s nephew went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a walk.
Dillas starter Josh Smith ran into trouble early in the first inning of the second game, twice putting the bases loaded with one out, but escaped as the Broncos only managed Clemente’s deep sacrifice fly to left field with one out.
The Dillas eventually would reward him on Gary Schneidmiller’s two-run double with two outs in the third inning after Broncos right-hander Gregorio Martinez put the first two batters on base.
But the Broncos finally capitalized on opportunities in the bottom of the inning.
After Smith allowed the first two batters he faced to reach base, consecutive RBI singles by Clemente and Luany Sanchez put the Broncos back on top, 3-2.
They weren’t done.
After Smith put two on with no outs before being pulled for Ronnie Lowe, Dwayne White’s two-run single up the middle pushed the Broncos’ lead to 5-2.
After Clemente walked, Sanchez followed with another RBI single before Lowe forced Santiago Guerrero into a double play.
Amarillo cut its deficit in the sixth inning on Justin Wenger’s RBI single, and in the seventh on A.J. Johnson’s RBI single.
Martinez (4-0) earned the win. He threw 5.1 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits.
He struck out five and walked four.
Righty Benny Cepeda, who pitched in the one-inning contest before, got his second save of the season.
Smith (1-3) got the loss. He threw three innings and allowed three runs on five hits.
He struck out three and walked four.
The Broncos compiled six runs on nine hits to the Dillas’ four runs on nine hits.
Prior to the seven-inning game, the Broncos and Dillas made up the June 7 contest which the Broncos led 12-11 in the top of the ninth inning before the game was suspended after the lights went out.
Not only did the Broncos refuse to surrender the lead on Sunday, they added cushion when Guerrero drilled a two-run single with one out and Matt Lawman added a RBI single with two outs for the extra insurance.
Cepeda pitched the bottom of the ninth on Sunday to secure the win.
Dan Sausville (1-0) got the win after he pitched the sixth and seventh innings on June 7, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out one and walking one.
Ralph Roberts (1-3) got the loss after he pitched 2.2 innings in relief on June 7, allowing three runs on three hits while striking out two and walking one.
The Broncos will embark on a six-game road trip through Edinburg and Alexandria starting today in Edinburg.
The first half of the season ends on June 28.
BRONCO BITS: The Broncos’ Arnoldo Ponce (quad injury) and Ivan Reyes (tendinitis) are still sidelined with injuries. Ben Tinius and Clemente both played but were not near full health. Manager Dan Shwam said reliever Rhett Barber is out for the next few days after straining his arm. Ponce and Reyes are unlikely to accompany the Broncos on the six-game road trip. Johnny Lopez (hand injury) is three weeks away from returning and Mark Lewis (ACL tear) is approximately two weeks away.
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