For six innings Sunday, Trey Dombroski gave the Corpus Christi Hooks a season-ending performance worth savoring. He handed a five-run lead to the bullpen, having kept Midland off the scoreboard while the Hooks built their advantage with timely two-out hitting.
It disappeared in one inning.
The RockHounds sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs in the seventh, turning a 5-0 deficit into a 6-5 victory at Momentum Bank Ballpark. Andrew Marrero was charged with all six runs while recording one out, and Railin Perez inherited a bases-loaded jam before surrendering the tying and go-ahead hits.
That abrupt reversal spoiled six scoreless innings from Dombroski, who struck out three and walked two. Midland had little sustained offense against him, and Dombroski finished his outing by retiring the side in order in the sixth.
Corpus Christi had given him ample room to work in the second. Alejandro Nuñez singled, Max Holy walked and Hector Salas loaded the bases with a single before Kenya Huggins struck out the next two hitters. One more out would have ended the threat untouched.
Jack Moss instead drove a line toward the left-field corner, where it dropped and skipped out of play for a ground-rule double. Nuñez and Holy scored, with Salas stopping at third. Will Bush followed by floating a two-out single into left-center, bringing home Salas and Moss for a 4-0 lead.
The Hooks added another run in the fifth. Walker Janek sent a sharp grounder off pitcher Domingo Robles for a double, though Bush was thrown out trying to advance to third. Tyler Whitaker then whistled a line drive into left for another double, scoring Janek and stretching the margin to five.
That was all the offense Corpus Christi produced. The Hooks finished with eight hits, the same total as Midland, but managed none after Whitaker’s double.
Marrero entered for the seventh and immediately found trouble. Jared Sprague-Lott singled, Ali Camarillo lined a double to center and Brennan Milone was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with nobody out. Marrero struck out Bobby Boser, but Cameron Leary followed with the swing that cracked the game open.
Leary rifled a line drive into right and watched it carry to the fence. Sprague-Lott and Camarillo scored on the double, Milone stopped at third, and Corpus Christi’s comfortable lead had become a bullpen emergency.
A walk to Clark Elliott reloaded the bases. CJ Rodriguez then knocked a line-drive single into center to score Milone, cutting the lead to 5-3 and ending Marrero’s outing.
Perez could not contain the damage he inherited. C.J. Pittaro grounded a single into right, bringing home Leary and Elliott to tie the game. Casey Yamauchi followed with another ground ball through the middle, and Rodriguez crossed the plate with the sixth run of the inning. Perez retired the next two hitters, but the lead was already gone. He was charged with his fifth blown save despite allowing no earned runs in two-thirds of an inning.
The Hooks still brought the tying run within 90 feet in the ninth. Salas walked and stole second, Justin Thomas Jr. walked, and Moss drew another walk to load the bases with two outs. Micah Dallas entered and induced Bush to ground out, leaving all three runners stranded and closing the Hooks’ season.
Moss finished 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and two RBIs. Janek also had two hits and a double, while Bush drove in two.
Ramsey David worked the eighth without allowing a run, but the scoreless work surrounding the seventh could not undo it. Corpus Christi and Midland each finished with eight hits and no errors; the difference was that every RockHounds run arrived in one relentless inning.