San Antonio Missions third baseman shares his perspective on wild ending in Midland

SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Missions were tied in their series against the Midland RockHounds last week when a remarkable ending to Saturday night’s game had the Missions’ dugout witness something they’ve never seen before in a baseball game.

The Missions were leading 4-2 in the bottom of the 9th inning. Midland had runners on first and third base and the winning run at the plate.

Midland’s Cooper Bowman hit a three-run walk-off home run to win the game 5-4, but as Midland players celebrated, the Missions appealed the call.

The umpires gave the Missions another baseball on the appeal, and the ball was then thrown to Missions third baseman Marcos Castañon, who stepped on third base for the out. The Missions were declared 4-3 winners over the RockHounds.

The error was made by Midland’s Denzel Clarke, who was on first base when the home run was hit. Clarke did not touch third base as he was coming home. When Castañon touched third with the ball in his glove, Clarke was called out.

“When I caught the ball, I actually kind of — it took me, like, five seconds just to stare at the umpires and give them some more time to think about it,” Castañon told KSAT. “So, I’ve never been in a situation like that, but just to be in it live was pretty cool.”

Clarke’s run would have been the run that tied the game 4-4, so his not stepping on third base as he rounded the bases gave the Missions the win. When spending time at batting practice this week we asked Castañon his reaction to this wild ending.

“I told someone, like, if I hit a homer, make sure you’re touching the bag or you owe me $1,000,” Castañon said. “So, it’s kind of a funny joke going around right now. It’s a fine.”

Castañon and the Missions will look for their 5th straight win at 7 p.m. tonight against the Corpus Christi Hooks.