Hooks Stop Late Rally to Secure Opener

SAN ANTONIO – Right-fielder Corey Julks and right-hander Jimmy Endersby set the pace Tuesday night as the Hooks engineered a 6-3 win over the Missions before 5,286 fans at Wolff Stadium.

Julks collected three of Corpus Christi’s nine hits and scored two runs.

Endersby (3-4) fired five innings of one-run ball to earn his third Double-A win of the season.

Devin Conn turned in two frames of scoreless relief and Felipe Tejeda pitched a perfect eighth before withstanding a surge in the ninth.

Trailing 6-1, the Missions totaled four singles to make it a three-run game. Tejada struck out Eguy Rosario, who represented the tying run, to end the game.

The Hooks struck for three runs in the third, sending seven men to bat against Pedro Avila (0-1). Consecutive singles by Ross Adolph and Julks keyed back-to-back, run-scoring doubles by Korey Lee and David Hensley.

Hensley, who reached base four times, has now hit safely in seven straight games.

Singles by Julks and Joe Perez kick-started a two-run seventh. Henry Henry later issued back-to-back walks, including a bases-full free pass to Scott Manea. Matthew Barefoot, who went 1-for-5 in his Double-A debut, added an RBI groundout.

Corpus Christi added another key insurance run in the eighth. Grae Kessinger coaxed a Henry lead-off walk and, one out later, Julks followed with a double down the left field line, setting the stage for a Perez sac fly and 6-1 lead.

Every player in the Hooks lineup reached base, with all but three recording a base hit.

CC seeks its third consecutive win Wednesday night with Brandon Lawson on the mound. First pitch 7:05.