Broncos' explosive 11th secures 14-9 win

The Broncos are never ones to lack for drama, but they managed to make Sunday's 14-9 win in 11 innings over Harlingen as breathtaking as they come.

The Broncos scored five runs in the 11th inning to claim the win. Benny Cepeda (1-0), who came off the seven-day inactive list on Tuesday, got the win as Caleb Balbuena (0-1) got the loss.

Laredo hit one home run -- Luany Sanchez's seventh of the season -- as Harlingen drilled two, courtesy of Argelis Nunez and Brian Nichols.

The Broncos, again, dug themselves a hole by falling behind 6-4 in the sixth inning.

But they rallied back to take a 9-6 lead in the eighth before yet another bullpen collapse before Rusty Jones and Cepeda allowed three unanswered runs in two innings to force a 9-9 tie to head into extra innings.

Neither team did anything in the 10th before Laredo's clutch 11th inning, in which the Broncos scored off a Matt Lawman sacrifice fly, a Dwayne White RBI single, and then Sanchez's huge three-run bomb that ended the scoring and gave the Gateway Gang the lead for good, 14-9.

John Smith would come into the game and hold Harlingen scoreless in the bottom of the inning as the Broncos took the middle game of the series.

The Broncos scored 14 runs on 16 hits and committed one error, while the WhiteWings scored nine runs on 12 hits and committed four errors.

Broncos starter Dan Sausville, normally a late-inning reliever who was pushed into a spot start with John Odom home attending to family matters, went five innings and gave up four runs on five hits. He struck out four and walked one.

The Broncos now sit at 16-15 heading into the rubber game tonight in Harlingen. They'll return to Laredo for a six-game homestand starting Tuesday.

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In other ULB news from Sunday night:

The Alexandria Aces (16-15) completed a feat that no other United League team has done this season—beat the Amarillo Dillas (19-10) two straight times. The Aces defeated the Dillas 4-2 Sunday night at Bringhurst Field behind some great pitching and timely hitting. The Aces are stuck in a third-place tie with Laredo while Amarillo still sits No. 1 in the league.

The San Angelo Colts busted out their best frame of the year, as the Colts broke open a 6-6 game with a nine-run, 13-batter inning, taking a 15-6 lead en route to a 21-8 demolition of the Edinburg Coyotes before a Father’s Day crowd of 1,440 at Foster Field. Right after Edinburg (12-19) scored four times in the top of the sixth off starter Frank James and reliever Taylor Fleming (3-1) to tie the game and threaten to hand the Colts (17-15) their fourth straight loss.