RGVSPORTS.COM
Sharyland High’s baseball team struggled offensively for most of Friday’s Game 1 win against Edcouch-Elsa in their Class 5A bi-district series.
On Saturday, that wasn’t the issue.
Behind 18 hits, the Rattlers beat the Yellowjackets 13-7 at Edcouch-Elsa to sweep the series and set up an area round date next week versus Calallen.
“Today, we went up 3-0, they came back and tied it, and we had a big fifth inning where we pulled away,” Sharyland High coach Junior Martinez said.
Jorge Maldonado had three RBIs. Joe Ramirez had two RBIs, including a homer. Nick Benavidez and David Becerra added three hits apiece.
Lance Madden, the only Rattler with multiple hits in the Game 1 win, went 2-for-4.
Becerra got the Game 2 win on the mound, throwing 5 2/3 innings.
The Rattlers (21-3) will play a best-of-three series against Calallen and will flip Monday to see who hosts Game 1 on Friday.
Edcouch-Elsa finished its season 11-13.
CLASS 4A
GAME 2: HIDALGO 20, ORANGE GROVE 6: In Rio Grande City, the Pirates turned a 4-4 ballgame in the fourth inning into a 14-run rout by the sixth.
Hidalgo had 19 hits and went through the full lineup twice in the fourth through sixth innings. Dylan Dougherty went 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Oscar Noguera went 3-for-3 with four RBIs. Michael Alvarez went 3-for-5 with three RBIs.
In all, the Pirates had 17 RBIs.
“Our pitching struggled today a little bit,” said Hidalgo coach Karlos Carrasco, who removed starter Kike Mendoza in the fourth inning when Orange Grove tied the game. “But I was very impressed with our bats. They kept us alive. At the end of the day, the errors we had didn’t hurt us because our offense came through.”
Sophomore Raul Ortiz came on in relief to get the win. Ortiz had pitched just three times all season before Saturday, but Carrasco praised the underclassman’s effort.
The Pirates advance to play Boerne in next week’s area round, likely to be held in Corpus Christi.