By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
When the dust settled during the last week of the district season, four Metro-area baseball teams were left standing.
Brownsville Veterans Memorial (19-1-2 overall, 13-1 in district) was dominant in District 32-6A, its only blemish was a 7-5 loss against district runner-up Harlingen South one month ago. The Chargers seemed to get better as the season wound down. They finished with three straight shutouts, outscoring their opponents 19-0 in those games.
Brownsville Veterans earned the district title outright and the top seed under first-year coach Joey Benavides and will open the postseason against PSJA North in a best-of-three series.
Game 1 will be at 7 p.m. Friday at PSJA North. Game 2 will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Brownsville Veterans, and, if necessary, Game 3 will begin 45 minutes later at the same location.
Hanna (14-7, 10-4) finished in third place in District 32-6A and earned yet another postseason berth under coach Eddie Garcia.
The Golden Eagles struggled during the early part of the season, especially on defense, and a playoff berth looked bleak early on.
But Hanna found its groove offensively and was sound defensively. They won four straight games to finish the district season, including an important 4-2 road win against Harlingen South.
Hanna has now qualified for the postseason for seven straight years under Garcia and will face Weslaco High in a best-of-three series.
Game 1 is at 7 p.m. Thursday at Hanna, Game 2 is at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Weslaco High, and Game 3, if necessary, is at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hanna.
In District 32-5A, Porter dropped its district opener, but proceeded to win its next 13 district games in a row under first-year coach Barton Bickerton.
The Cowboys (17-5, 13-1) clinched their district title outright with a 5-3 victory against PSJA High. It was the second time the Cowboys defeated the Bears this season after a 5-2 road victory a few weeks earlier.
Porter thrived this season under Bickerton , who has been quite successful in the Rio Grande Valley over the years. The Cowboys will now face Roma in a one-game playoff at 7 p.m. Friday in Mission .
In District 32-4A, Port Isabel (14-8, 8-6) had to wait until the last week of the district season to determine its fate. The Tarpons had clinched a postseason berth but were tied for the third spot heading into the final game with La Feria .
Port Isabel and La Feria went back and forth and were tied at 4 in the late innings. The Lions went onto defeat the Tarpons, 5-4 and Port Isabel earned the fourth seed.
The Tarpons face District 31-4A champion Robstown in a best-of-three series to open the postseason.
Game 1 will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Port Isabel, Game 2 will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Robstown, and, if necessary, Game 3 will begin 30 minutes after at the same location.
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.