BY STEVEN RAY HERNANDEZ | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
Coach Rene Soza and the PSJA North Raiders earned their first win of the year Monday night, looking nothing like a winless team in the process.
The Raiders traveled to McAllen Memorial (1-3) with an 0-4 record, but headed back home 1-4 after a decisive 9-2 victory over the young Mustangs.
“We are still trying to figure out our official lineup,” said Coach Soza, who is in his first year at the helm after coming over from Hidalgo. “Looking at the long run, we’re just trying to get the players to respect their role as a team and teach them the theory of baseball, not just playing it.”
The Raiders kicked off the game with an early 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to RBI singles by Matt Garza (1 for 2) and Christian Chavez (2 for 3, double), who had an impressive 3 RBI night.
Meanwhile, McAllen Memorial struggled to get their bats working against Raiders starter Gus Garcia, who pitched four innings without allowing a run. He notched four strikeouts.
“As I was warming up, I felt really good, so I was pretty confident I was going to have a good game,” said Garcia, who is only a junior and in his second year in varsity.
The Raiders continued their stellar slugging game into the 3rd inning, bringing the score to 5-0 after a triple from Isaac Cantu brought home Garza and Garcia.
Cantu had the best night at the plate, finishing at 3 for 3 with 2 RBI’s.
In the top of the 4th inning, it was clear the game was just about out of reach for McAllen Memorial. The Raiders added 4 more runs to put the score at 9-0.
The Mustangs eventually got on the board with a run by Taylor Krucia in the 5th inning to bring the score to 9-1. Memorial added a 7th-inning score when backup pitcher Armis Sunday (1 for 2) hit a line drive to bring in Garret St. Claire for the final score of the night.
In the end, the young Memorial squad just couldn’t grasp the momentum, finishing the game with 5 errors.
“We made a lot of mistakes at the beginning of the ball game,” McAllen Memorial coach Octavio Oyervides said. “We picked it up a little towards the end, but we still need to play better. I think we need to just work on our mental approach to the game and we should be good.”
The Mustangs, who are only playing with one senior on this year’s starting squad, will head to Donna this weekend for tournament play.
Meanwhile, PSJA North will host its own tournament.