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Harlingen, TX-the Laredo Broncos sent 13 men to the plate and scored 8 runs in the 5th inning to help lead them to a 11-4 victory over the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings at Harlingen Field, on Wednesday.

The Broncos grabbed the early lead in the top of the 2nd.  With 2 outs OJ Garza singled and then went to 2nd on a wild pitch by WhiteWings starter Maximo De La Cruz.  Robert Moron then hit a double scoring Garza.  Jake Wells came up and singled into right field.  Moron tried to score from 2nd on the play, but the throw from right fielder Stephen Ward nailed Moron at the plate.  However Laredo did grab the 1-0 lead.

The WhiteWings threatened in their half of the 2nd.  Welinson Baez walked to start the inning. Joaquin Rodriguez then tried to bunt for a hit, and the throw by Laredo’s 3rd baseman Miguel Ortiz was wide of first and went out of play.  The error moved Baez to 3rd base, and Rodriguez to 2nd.  Broncos’ starter Tano Tijerina was in a bit of a jam, but was able to strike out the next 3 men he faced to keep Laredo up by 1 run.

Rio Grande Valley was able to tie up the game in the bottom of the 3rd.  Augustin Septimo walked to start the inning.  Then with 1 out, Tijerina tried to pick off Septimo at 1st, but the throw got by the 1st baseman and allowed Septimo to go to 3rd base.  Alberto Cruz followed with a rbi single to tie the game at 1.

The Broncos regained the lead in the top of the 5th inning.  Luis Ugueto led off with a walk and then went to 2nd on a single by Miguel Ortiz.  After 1 out, Argelis Nunez doubled down the left field line scoring both Ugueto and Ortiz.  After a balk moved him to 3rd base, David Cardona singled in Nunez.  That would chase starter Maximo De La Cruz from the game as Todd Lutz came into the game.  Rafael Ozuna greeted Lutz with a single that advance Cardona to 3rd.  Ozuna would go to 2nd on the throw trying to Cardona at 3rd.  OJ Garza then hit a ground ball to the shortstop who tried to get Cardona at home but the throw was late allowing Cardona to be safe.  Ozuna would stay at 2nd while Garza would be safe at 1st.  Robert Moron then came up and delivered a rbi single scoring Ozuna from 2nd base.  Garza would go to 3rd and Moron would take 2nd on the throw to home plate.  Jake Wells was the next batter and he delivered a 2 run single scoring both Garza and
Moron.  Wells would go to 2nd base on the throw home as well.  Luis Ugueto was the next batter and reached on an infield single moving Wells to 3rd.  Miguel Ortiz then hit a sacrifice fly scoring Wells.  All in all, the Broncos would score 8 runs on 7 hits in the inning and sent 12 men to the plate.  Laredo now had a 9-1 lead.

Tano Tijerina left the game after 5 innings of work in line for his first victory of the year.  He gave up 1 run on 4 hits, walked 7 batters and struck out 5.  Nathan Crawford came into the game in relief.

The Broncos tacked on more runs in the top of the 8th.  Luis Ugueto walked to start the inning and was replaced by Jaime Morales as a pinch runner.  Miguel Ortiz doubled down the left field line advancing Morales to 3rd.  Mario Mendez then hit a sacrifice fly scoring Morales and moving Ortiz to 3rd.  Argelis Nunez came up next and knocked in Ortiz with a double.  That extended the Broncos lead to 11-1.

The WhiteWings got back on the scoreboard in the bottom of the 8th.  Brian Nichols came up with the bases loaded and emptied them with a double off of Nathan Crawford.  That cut the Broncos lead to 7.

Carlos Alvarez came into the game in the 9th and closed the game out as the Broncos won their 2nd straight game, by a score of 11-4.

The Broncos scored 11 runs on 18 hits and had 4errors while the WhiteWings scored 4 runs on 6 hits and had no errors.

The Broncos are now 6-14 on the season while the WhiteWings are 10-10.  The Broncos will next be in action Thursday July 2nd, as they open up a 4 game series against the San Angelo Colts at Veterans Field at 7:30.  You can listen to that game and all 80 Broncos games this year on our website www.laredobroncos.com thru our partners at www.sportsujuice.com.

WP: Tano Tijerina (1-1)
LP: Maximo De La Cruz (0-2)
S: None

HR:     Broncos:  None           WhiteWings: None