DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
Seven Rio Grande Valley high school baseball players were named to the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association All-State first team earlier this week.
Sharyland High’s Rolando Moreno (first base) and Mario Vela (shortstop), Hidalgo’s Oscar Noguera (pitcher) and Dylan Dougherty (second base), PSJA High’s Christian Sanchez (first base), Mission Veterans Memorial’s Edward Peña (third base) and La Feria’s Ozzy Cisneros (second base) were named by the organization as first-teamers.
Coaches around the state nominate kids to the team, and the organization’s committee selects the honorees. In all, 21 Valley players were named to the teams.
Moreno hit .446 with 15 RBIs and six doubles for Sharyland this season. Vela lead Class 5A in stolen bases (34) and hit .500 with 19 RBIs. Noguera went 13-2 with a 1.16 ERA and 137 strikeouts to 22 walks, and teammate Dougherty hit .396 with 31 RBIs and two homers. Sanchez hit .472 with 12 RBIs and two homers, and Peña, a University of Texas Rio Grande Valley commit, hit .391 with 36 RBIs and 11 doubles.
On the Class 6A team, the Valley was represented by La Joya High junior Anibal Garcia (second-team first base), Edinburg North junior Saul Garza (third-team catcher), Edinburg High junior John Gonzalez (third-team third base), and La Joya Palmview sophomore Leo Perez (third-team pitcher), junior Esteban Pena (third-team shortstop) and senior Eleazar Garcia (third-team third base).
Mission Vets and Sharyland High dominated selections in Class 5A. Aside from Moreno and Vela, the Rattlers named senior Nick Benavidez (second-team catcher) and senior David Becerra (third-team third base) to the All-State team. Mission Vets also had sophomore Noel Vela (second-team pitcher) and sophomore Matthew De La Garza (second-team second base) along with Peña. PSJA High senior Kike Rubio was named as a third-team shortstop and Brownsville Porter senior Jose Perez was recognized as a third-team pitcher.
In Class 4A, Hidalgo also had junior Mike Alvarez named as an All-Stater, as a second-team third baseman. Rio Hondo sophomore Trey Zepeda was named as a second-team second baseman.