BY JAKOB LOPEZ | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
SAN ANTONIO — After a long day of travel, the Edinburg High Bobcats fell painfully short.
Back in the Class 6A Regional Semifinals for the first time since 1956, the Bobcats let the Johnson Jaguars escape Game 1 with a narrow 1-0 victory.
In a game filled with tight defense and strong pitching, the Bobcats succumbed to an unforced error in the bottom of the 5th inning, to give the Jaguars the only run of the game.
“The baserunning mistake early on that one play, the runner is supposed to freeze,” Edinburg coach Robert Valdez said. “He just didn’t get a good read. Even in the last inning, we get a chance, and we get picked off. That’s our fault as coaches and not preparing them to deal with what they were confronted with.”
The Bobcats dominated the plate for most of the game, with five hits to Johnson’s two. And with the stellar pitching of senior John Gonzalez — who had six strikeouts through five innings — the Bobcats looked poised to take Game 1 of the fourth-round series. But unfortunately, with four runners left on base, Edinburg was unable to capitalize.
“At this level, like I said earlier, you make a mistake and the other opponent will make you pay — that was evident,” Valdez said. “Early in the game we had a few chances, we just were unable to capitalize. Unfortunately we had a passed ball, something that hadn’t happened all year. But those things happen. Whether it be that we’re flat or the travel, there is really no excuse at this level. We didn’t get here because of that. We’re not going to hang our hat on that, we’re going to get a good bus ride home and regroup and come out tomorrow with the home crowd support and try and turn this thing around.”
In a game of narrow margins, the fortunate Jaguars seemed to have just enough.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Jaguar Tanner Scarborough — who had previously committed an error in the top of the fourth — rattled off a base hit. A sacrifice bunt from Max Kinney would send Scarborough to second, and a wild pitch from Gonzalez allowed Scarborough to become the go-ahead run.
“We just came out to play like we’ve been playing — we didn’t change a whole lot of stuff,” Johnson coach Gordon Gesell said. “I noticed that they started to stay inside the ball a little more, offensively, so we changed speeds on them. We threw the ball inside on them a little bit. We practiced so we were prepared for those things.”
Despite the loss, the Bobcats have much to be proud of.
With five hits and two runners in scoring position on separate occasions — juniors Josh Aguirre, Mathew Trevino, John Gonzalez, sophomore Jaime Cansino and senior Ryan Amador all connected at the plate — the Bobcats will look to tweak their base running heading into Game 2.
“We’re hoping for the surrounding communities to come out and support these boys — it’s been a long road for them,” Valdez said. “I’d be very appreciative if everyone can come out and support them. We got to live to fight another day, and tomorrow is that day.”
Game 2 of the Region IV-6A semifinals is set to begin at 5 tonight at Edinburg Baseball Stadium.