5/13/2013-AMARILLO, Texas -- The Pecos League is now 1-1 against American Association teams, as Trinidad topped the Amarillo Sox 14-10 in a hitters battle Sunday.
"We played great," said Triggers manager J.D. Droddy of the exhibition game. "We hit well all day. We started in the first inning of the first game hitting and we didnt quit all day. We hit really well. It was just a great day for us."
Matt Hunt started off the day with a single, scoring on an RBI double by Jacob Fabry. With one out, Will Leonard singled in Fabry then scored on an on error by the Amarillo third baseman.
Trigger pitcher Brett Kinsell gave up two runs in the first, only one earned, and Trinidad never trailed.
The Triggers made it 7-2 in the top of the second, starting when Sam DiMatteo walked, stole second and third and came in on an RBI single by Hunt. The Trigger shortstop stole second,. reached third on an error by the Sox pitcher and came home on a RBI single by Fabry. He stole second and was knocked in on an RBI single by Leonard.
Amarillo only added one run in the bottom of the stanza, while Trinidad stretched their lead to 9-3 in the third on only one hit.
Andrew Azzopardi doubled and DiMatteo struck out but reached on a wild pitch that sent Azzopardi to third. DiMatteo stole second; Azzopardi scored on an error and DiMatteo came on home when Fabry hit into a double play.
The Sox added two in the bottom of the stanza, but the Triggers added the same number in the top of the fourth, scoring on a leadoff double by Jake Summers, a walk to Frank Florio and several Amarillo errors.
Kinsell gave up his last run in the bottom of the fourth, while a Leonard double and Summers RBI single made it 12-6 after five complete.
The Triggers scored their final runs in the sixth, getting two more on a DiMatteo single, Fabry walk and RBI singles by single by Leonard and Jeff Lucero.
Droddy brought in three reliever to round out the game. Zach Leitten allowed one Amarillo run in the sixth; Sam Briend two in the seventh; and Chris Shaklee one in the ninth.
"The pitching overall was pretty good," Droddy said. "Both teams had really good hitters. And theyre an American Association team, so theyre a couple of notches ahead of us in terms of competition level, so we expected to give up some runs, but we scored a lot of runs ourselves."
Defensively, right fielder Patrick "Wink" Nolan had the play of the game with a diving catch, while Leonard led the across-the-board offensive onslaught, going 4-for-5 with a walk and 3 RBI.
The Triggers head back to Colorado for two more days of practice before opening the season May 15 at 7 p.m. in Raton.
"Im very happy," Droddy said. "Were going to be very strong. This is one of the stronger teams in the American Association and we played with them. Were going to be able to play with anybody. Were excited. Were ready to play ball."