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They made it close, but the Hidalgo Pirates began the last leg toward a hopeful Class 4A state championship with a 7-6 win over Orange Grove in Game 1 of their bi-district series Friday in Rio Grande City.
“Our bats were strong,” Hidalgo coach Karlos Carrasco said. “They came alive and we finally put the ball in play. We had been struggling with it all year.”
Oscar Noguera pitched a complete game and allowed six hits. He also provided a three-run homer.
The Pirates led 7-1 most of the game and 7-3 entering the seventh before Orange Grove scrapped some runs together.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” Carrasco said. “Defensively, we just couldn’t get out of that inning. We gave up three hits, some passed balls. We’ll be fine.”
CLASS 5A
MISSION VETERANS MEMORIAL 10, MERCEDES 5: At Mercedes, the Patriots put the clamps on a series sweep of the Tigers.
“We had a couple big innings and jumped out to a big lead early,” Mission Vets coach Casey Smith said. “That was big. We threw strikes and played defense.”
It was the first bi-district championship for Mission Vets’ program.
“That’s big,” Smith said. “We’ve had some bad luck where we’ve drawn Calallen a few times in the first round, so this is huge. We talk about winning championships, but we really just want to be as good as we can be. Let’s just play and see where the cards may fall.”
Cristian Ramos improved to 6-0.
The Patriots are 21-6 overall.
SHARYLAND HIGH 7, EDCOUCH-ELSA 1: The Rattlers broke a 1-1 tie by scoring six straight runs late to earn the Game 1 win of their bi-district series.
Game 2 is today at 2 p.m. at Edcouch-Elsa.
EDINBURG VELA 13, PSJA HIGH 3: At Edinburg, the SaberCats won their inaugural postseason game to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-3 series.
Arnie Salinas was the winning pitcher, holding the Bears to four hits. Ryan Rodriguez and John Trevino contributed homers for Vela. Rodriguez had three RBIs.
Game 2 is today in Pharr.
CLASS 6A
PSJA NORTH 9, BROWNSVILLE VETERANS MEMORIAL 2: At PSJA North, the Raiders pulled off an early upset of the state-ranked Chargers in Game 1 of their bi-district playoff series.
“The kids just played with so much confidence,” first-year Raiders coach Rene Soza said. “They had fun. It was a big win. This was the best we’ve played all year.”
Junior Matt Garza pitched a complete game and struck out six. He kept his fastball down and low.
The Raiders jumped on the Chargers early, and from there rolled.
“They put their heads down and it just didn’t work out for them,” Soza said. “I think they could have been overconfident. They played us earlier in the year when they run-ruled us.”
Game 2 is today in Brownsville.
“We can’t be overconfident,” Soza said. “We have to stay focused. We’re here to have fun. We have nothing to lose but play ball. That’s what we did tonight.”
EDINBURG HIGH 8, SAN BENITO 0: At Edinburg High, the Bobcats finished off a sweep of the Greyhounds to advance to the area round.
Junior John Gonzalez pitched a one-hit shutout. It was the Bobcats’ ninth shutout of the season.
“The hard part was coming off from the end of district,” Edinburg coach Robert Valdez said. “Last night, we were able to execute our game plan, bunt early and we made some baserunning mistakes because of the number of days off. We carried that momentum tonight, jumped on them early and put ourselves in nice position with a couple of base hits. I think that put some doubt in them.”
Valdez said his team was better composed Friday and had more quality at-bats.
“It’s been a different guy for us every night,” Valdez said. “And now that team chemistry has transcended into confidence.”
It’s the Bobcats’ first bi-district championship since 2012.
WESLACO HIGH 6, BROWNSVILLE HANNA 5: The Hanna Golden Eagles were down early, came back to take the lead but ultimately lost during the bottom of seventh inning as Weslaco High hit a walkoff double to win 6-5 and sweep the Class 6A best-of-three bi-district series Friday.
Hanna came back to tie the game at 3 and took a 4-3 lead during the third inning.
“We stopped the bleeding, we had three runs to tie it up,” Hanna coach Eddie Garcia said. “(Hanna pitcher) Alec Buitron calmed down and started hitting his spots.”
The Eagles and Panthers would trade runs over the next few innings until Weslaco High tied it at 5 during the bottom of the sixth.
After Hanna got two outs during the seventh, a Weslaco High player hit a triple and the next hitter followed with a double to give the Panthers the series sweep.
The Eagles had their chances, but didn’t take advantage.
“We left a lot of men on base, a lot of scoring opportunities,” Garcia said. “One hit here, one hit there, the same story (as Thursday). You have to make the most of those opportunities, they don’t come back.
“Their pitcher bent, but never broke. We had chances earlier in the game, but we couldn’t get over the hump.”
LAREDO UNITED 3, McALLEN HIGH 0: At Roma, United put the finishing touches on a sweep of the Bulldogs after it won Game 1 2-1 on Thursday in extra innings.
McHi finishes its season 16-8 overall.
LAREDO UNITED SOUTH 5, LA JOYA PALMVIEW 4, 8 INNINGS: At La Joya, United South rallied to take a 1-0 lead in the bi-district series.
Game 2 is today in Laredo.
EAGLE PASS 7, LA JOYA HIGH 6, 11 INNINGS: At La Joya, the Coyotes saw their season come to an end in a dramatic thriller at home.
The two teams went back and forth much of the night until the Eagles pulled away in the 11th.
La Joya High finishes its season 14-9.
CLASS 4A
ROBSTOWN 9, PORT ISABEL 1: Port Isabel took control and had a 1-0 lead, but a handful of mistakes allowed Robstown to come back and take Game 1 in the Class 4A best-of-three bi-district series Friday.
With the Tarpons leading by a run during the third inning, the Cotton Pickers took advantage of five straight errors by Port Isabel and on just one hit, scored seven runs to shift the momentum and went on to win in the first game of the series.
Game 2 is at 2 p.m. today at Port Isabel, followed by Game 3, if necessary, 30 minutes later.
Port Isabel coach Robert Holland said a lack of offense wasn’t the problem for his squad, it was the mistakes made while playing defense.
“(We) hit the ball, but they didn’t make mistakes and we did,” he said. “Somehow we just have to battle and see what happens (today).”
Despite the loss, the Tarpons felt the game could have played out differently without the errors.
“Aside from the mistakes, we can play with them,” Holland said. “(Today) we have to play with energy, love the game, stay focused and believe.”