DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — Valley baseball’s meat-grinder resides in District 31-5A, and that was again on display Tuesday night.
Edinburg Vela — which now stands with Mission Vets and Sharyland High with just a loss each in district play — got to Vela for three hits and two walks amongst the first six batters the lefty faced in building a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
“It was huge for us,” SaberCats coach Jaime Perez said of the quick start. “They’re not ranked No. 6 in state for nothing. And we’re the babies; we’re trying to crawl out of that cellar and be that team to reckon with.”
Noel Vela entered the game 5-0 with a 0.72 ERA. But he struggled against a SaberCats lineup that was patient and prepared.
Vela struck out 10, but he surrendered 10 hits and walked four.
“We were ready,” said SaberCats infielder Ryan Rodriguez, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI. “We kept the barrel out in front, stayed back on the curveball. He’s supposed to have the best curveball in the Valley and we read it.”
SaberCats senior ace Arnie Salinas, meanwhile, looked like the phenom in a complete-game shutout.
Salinas struck out seven and held the Patriots to five hits. Mission Vets only threatened to score in the first inning, when it stranded two runners in scoring position.
After that, Salinas had his way.
“I’ve never faced them, so the first couple of innings I got into trouble,” Salinas said. “I had to adjust. I couldn’t just lob it in there. I put a bit more extra effort into the fastballs.”
His coach could not have been prouder. Perez said he has heard college coaches grouse about Salinas’ arm slot and “unclean mechanics.”
But that’s “outside the fence” talk, Perez said. What Salinas does inside the fence is “second to none.”
“I’ll put him against anybody,” Perez said. “He has that bulldog mentality. He flat-out competes.”
Prior to the game, Mission Vets coach Casey Smith mentioned how tough 31-5A is. How anybody can beat anyone else on any day.
Much to his chagrin, he was proven right. The Patriots (14-5, 5-1 31-5A) fell for just the fifth time in 19 games and for the first time in district.
“They hit the ball early and we made mistakes,” Smith said. “We put the ball in play and we just had too many pop-ups and strikeouts. In a close game like that, sometimes it comes back to bite you in the butt.
“It’s going to be tough to go unscathed in this district. But baseball is baseball. We didn’t make the plays and they did.”
While Salinas said the game was just another piece to the puzzle for what the team hopes is a district championship season, his coach spoke of a signature contest.
The SaberCats (9-6, 5-1 31-5A) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in district the last two years. In Perez’s first year at the helm this season, he has wiped the slate clean, rebuilding with discipline and accountability.
That, along with “mental fortitude,” produced a landmark win, Perez said.
“This game was going to set the standard for what we’re about,” Perez said. “We told them the biggest game in school history was this one right here.
“This is the pinnacle of what we do, and this is the product we’ve tried to put out on the baseball field.”