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Robstown, TX-The Laredo Broncos rallied late from a 3 run
deficit but lost on a sacrifice fly in the 9th to the Costal Bend Thunder by
a score of 7-6 at Fairgrounds Field.

The Broncos jumped out to the early lead in the 1st inning.  With 1 out, OJ
Garza singled and then stole 2nd base.  Mario Mendez then delivered a rbi
single scoring Garza and giving Laredo the 1-0 lead.

The Thunder would strike back in their half of the 1st.  Dustin Smith led
off reaching on an error by the Broncos Rafael Ozuna.  Smith would go to 2nd
on a single by Michael Lewis.  Then with 1 out, Manny Mejia hit a double
scoring both Smith and Lewis.  After a groundout moved Mejia to 3rd base,
Broncos starter Gustavo Vasquez threw a wild pitch allowing Mejia to score.
That gave Costal Bend the 3-1 lead.

Laredo would get those runs back in the 2nd inning.  With 2 outs Kylee Hash
singled.  He would then score on a triple by Luis Ugueto.  As Ugueto was
going for 3rd, the throw by the Thunder’s 2nd baseman Casey Gordon went into
the stands.  That allowed Ugueto to score and tie the game at 3.

The game would stay tied till the bottom of the 4th inning.  Costal Bend’s
Bryan Vickers led off the inning being hit by a pitch, and went to 2nd on a
sacrifice bunt.  Kevin Butler would later come up with 2 outs and hit a rbi
single scoring Vickers and making the score 4-3.

The Thunder would tack on a few more runs in the 5th inning.  Leivi Ventura
and Manny Mejia hit back to back singles to start the inning.  Mike Gross
then hit a ground rule double scoring Ventura and advancing Mejia to 3rd.
With 2 outs, Casey Gordon hit a routine ground to Broncos shortstop Rafael
Ozuna who then threw high allowing Gordon to be safe and Mejia to score
giving Costal Bend a 6-3 lead.

The Broncos bats would get them back in the game in the top of the 6th
inning.  Andres “El Monkey” Santos hit a solo home run, his first of the
season.  Then with 2 outs, Costal Bends defense would let them down.  Robert
Moron hit a routine fly ball to centerfielder Dustin Smith who dropped the
ball allowing Moron to go to 2nd base.  The very next batter Jake Wells hit
a routine ground ball to shortstop Amadeo Zazueta whose throw would get by
the Thunder’s first baseman allowing Moron to score.  Luis Ugueto would then
come up and hit a rbi single scoring Wells which tied the game at 6-6.

Broncos’ starter Gustavo Vasquez would end up leaving the game after 7
innings with a no decision.  He gave up 6 runs 4 of which were earned on 8
hits.  He walked only 1 batter and struck out 5.  Ryan Harris would come
into the game and pitch a scoreless 8th keeping the score tied at 6.

Laredo would have runners on 1st and 2nd in their half of the 9th inning
with 2 outs, but Argelis Nunez flied out to end the threat. 

The Thunder got to Harris in the bottom of the 9th.  Dustin Smith led off
with a single.  Michael Lewis tried to bunt him over and Harris threw to
2nd, but Smith beat the throw.  After a fly out, moved Smith to 3rd, the
Broncos brought in Tristan Crawford to try to end the threat.  Manny Mejia
had other ideas as he hit a sacrifice fly giving the Thunder a 7-6 victory.

The Broncos scored 6 runs on 10 hits and had 2errors while the Thunder
scored 7 runs on 9 hits and had 4 errors.

The Broncos are now 2-7 on the season while the Thunder are 4-5.  The
Broncos will next be in action tomorrow Saturday June 20th as they play game
2 of a 4 game series against the Costal Bend Thunder at 7:05.  You can
listen to that game and all 80 Broncos games this year on
www.laredobroncos.com thru our partners at www.sportsuice.com.

WP: Ferdin Tejeda (1-0)
LP: Ryan Harris (0-2)
S: None

HR: Broncos: Andres “El Monkey” Santos (1st of season)     Thunder: None

The Laredo Broncos begin their 4th season in 2009. The Broncos will play an
80 game season from June to September with 36 home games at Veterans Field.
Season tickets and Sponsorship Packages are on sale in the Laredo Broncos
office located at 2200 Santa Maria or