Cleburne Railroaders Defeat Houston Apollos 5-2

September 1 2021 The Cleburne Railroaders defeated the Houston Apollos 5-2 behind a five-run attack and 12 hits. Cleburne scored once in each of the first five innings, building a 5-0 lead before Houston answered with two runs in the eighth. The Apollos finished with seven hits and neither team committed an error.

A. Lago, O. Martinez, R. Hernandez, Z. Nehrir and N. Vaughan each recorded two hits for Cleburne. Martinez, Hernandez, T. Ryan, H. Clanin and C. Pogue drove in one run apiece. Lago and Nehrir each hit a double, while Houstons Aaron Takacs and Jared Fry also doubled. Jared Fry had two of Houstons seven hits, and Blake Berry collected the Apollos only RBI.

Jheyson Manzueta earned the win after allowing four hits and striking out two in five scoreless innings. E. Martinez worked two scoreless innings, and Nick Gardewine recorded the save with a hitless ninth that included two strikeouts. Houston starter Matt Cronin took the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits in four innings, while Alex Merithew surrendered one run in two innings.