DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Behind the dominance of juniors Noel Vela and Cristian Ramos, Mission Veterans Memorial’s pitching was never in doubt this season. It’s the hitting, however, that has opened eyes.
The Patriots dominated Sharyland High 15-0 at Sharyland High to win their District 31-5A opener Thursday afternoon. Mission Vets (12-3-1) gutted Sharyland pitching for 11 hits, struck out twice in 45 at-bats and walked nine times.
In 16 games this season, the Patriots have scored 135 runs, an average of 8.4 per game. Mission Vets coach Casey Smith said his team is taking advantage of positive counts and putting the ball in play with two strikes.
“We’re all taking good approaches at the plate,” said junior catcher William Peña, who went 3-for-4 with five RBIs. “I think no one is trying to do too much; we all know what we’re capable of and we’re staying within that.”
Mission Vets’ surge began in the third inning when Vela, the No. 3 hitter, was intentionally walked with the bases loaded and two outs. Peña followed with an RBI single and Eddie Galvan added another one.
“They wanted to get rid of Noel to face me, and I knew I had to come through in that situation,” Peña said. “I had to make it hurt for them.”
The Patriots added two more runs in the fifth to chase starter Damian Moya, scored two more in the sixth and eight more in the seventh.
Galvan went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Vela went 2-for-3 with a walk and a RBI. Vela’s performance followed a blistering four-game stand last week in which he hit 10-for-13 with two homers and nine RBIs.
“I’m just trying to hit fastballs,” said Vela, who did not pitch Thursday because he has soreness in his arm lingering from Friday’s start. “I’m not getting behind in the count and seeing curveballs. I’m swinging at good pitches. For me, to be pitching well carries over confidence-wise to my hitting, and that’s what I have going.”
As pleasant as it was for Mission Vets, it was the complete opposite for the young Rattlers (7-7, 0-2 31-5A). Starting three freshmen, coach Junior Martinez’s team committed two errors and saw rocky pitching out of the bullpen.
Freshman reliever Eduardo Salinas hit three straight batters to lead off the sixth inning. He was removed after walking three batters to lead off the seventh, and Rodrigo Medina followed by walking two more batters.
Moya, a junior, allowed five runs on seven hits in four innings. He walked three and struck out one. His pitching was the best of the day for the Rattlers.
“We have freshmen making freshmen mistakes,” Martinez said. “You can’t give a team like that extra outs, and we did. We did the same thing against (Edinburg) Vela (an 8-4 loss Tuesday). We’re young, and we’re going to have to learn how to deal with it.
“Once I get everybody on the same page with the right attitude, maybe good things will start happening.”
Ramos, who improved to 4-0 and had a 0.88 ERA coming into Thursday, was not so generous to Rattlers hitters.
In six innings, Ramos struck out three, walked one and allowed four hits. Galvan secured the Patriots’ third shutout of the season with a 1-2-3 seventh.
“I’m starting off where I left off last year,” said Ramos, who throws five pitches for strikes and changes speeds seamlessly. “I fixed some form on my pitching, but that’s it. It’s really about pounding the strike zone and coming right at them. It’s worked.”