Roundup of Upper and Mid-Valley bi-district playoff games from Saturday, May 7:
CLASS 6A
LA JOYA PALMVIEW 10, EAGLE PASS 0; LA JOYA PALMVIEW 9, EAGLE PASS 6: At Laredo, the Lobos rallied to sweep Games 2 and 3 on Saturday and take the best-of-3 bi-district playoff series as senior Cesar Rosales had a field day at the plate.
Rosales hit three home runs in Games 2 and 3 and finished with four in the series.
“He was real disciplined at the plate,” coach Rick Garcia said. “He’s a young man that was determined not to be ousted in the first round. He’s one of our senior leaders and he led us. He put the team on his shoulders and he pushed us.”
After the Eagles had taken Game 1 on Friday night in 10 innings, the Lobos dispatched Eagle Pass fairly easily, using a deliberate offense to push through.
“Our bats kept us alive,” Garcia said. “Our approach was to be more patient and get pitches they could hit. That’s what happened. They were patient and more disciplined.”
Palmview is 18-10 and advances to play Brownsville Hanna in next week’s area round playoffs.
LAREDO UNITED 13, McALLEN HIGH 1: At La Joya, the Bulldogs saw their season end as they were swept out of the best-of-three bi-district series with the Game 2 loss.
McAllen High finishes its season 16-9.
DEL RIO 5, LA JOYA 1: At Laredo, the Coyotes were swept in their best-of-three bi-district series.
La Joya High finishes the season 18-9.
LOS FRESNOS 8, WESLACO HIGH 4: At Weslaco, the Panthers were swept in their best-of-three bi-district series.
Weslaco High finishes its season 13-12.
CLASS 5A
PSJA HIGH 16, ROMA 1; PSJA HIGH 7, ROMA 6: At Pharr, the Bears rallied from a 1-0 series deficit to take the best-of-three bi-district series.
A RBI double by Marc Castillo proved to be the go-ahead run during the sixth inning as PSJA High won Game 2, and then dominated Game 3 behind Castillo’s pitching and Roma’s lack of it.
“If we won Game 2, I knew we’d win Game 3,” PSJA High coach Marco Guajardo said. “I knew they’d have no pitching left.”
Roma threw five pitchers in five innings in Game 3. PSJA High led 5-0 after the first inning, and then Josh Saldana’s grand slam in the second essentially closed matters.
“It’s going to be really big for these young guys,” Guajardo said of the comeback series win. “I saw the jitters and nervousness come out in Game 1 that I haven’t seen before. Being able to come back and win back-to-back, just the experience of a big series will help a lot.”
PSJA High plays Corpus Christi Moody in next week’s area round of the playoffs. The Bears improved to 21-8. Roma finishes its season 10-17.
EDINBURG VELA 14, DONNA NORTH 0; DONNA NORTH 8, EDINBURG VELA 7: At Edinburg, Vela survived a scare in its best-of-three bi-district playoffs to take down Donna North in Game 3.
Vela improves to 17-7 overall. Donna North captured the baseball program’s first playoff appearance and first postseason win and ends its year 15-13.
CLASS 4A
Orange Grove 14, Hidalgo 9: After three consecutive years of going to the regional tournament, the Pirates were upset in the first round of the playoffs as Orange Grove swept the best-of-three bi-district series.
Hidalgo finishes its year 18-10.
Sinton 2, Grulla 1: At Sinton, the Gators were swept in their best-of-three bi-district series.
Grulla finishes its season 10-16.