DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Valley View was on a high coming off Thursday’s impressive win over Edinburg Vela, opening eyes everywhere in District 31-5A. It was a declarative moment for the Tigers, who felt they were ready to take that next step in the hierarchy of the league.
Then Valley View ran into a buzz saw Tuesday.
Mission Veterans Memorial junior left-hander Noel Vela continued his dominance this season in striking out 14 in a complete-game no-hitter Tuesday, leading the Patriots to an 8-0 whitewashing of the Tigers at Mission Veterans Memorial High.
Vela lowered his ERA to 0.27 and improved to 3-1. In 26 innings through five appearances, the UTRGV commit has 50 strikeouts to 14 walks.
“Noel dominated,” Patriots coach Casey Smith said. “He got ahead, he threw strikes, he changed speeds and he spotted the ball well. When you’ve got stuff like his, he’s going to be very hard to beat.”
It was the first no-hitter for Vela this season.
“It never crossed my mind,” Vela said. “My only focus was getting ahead and throwing good pitches. A no-hitter never even entered my thoughts at all.”
Mission Vets (15-3-1, 4-0 31-5A) produced a four-run third inning against Valley View (9-7-2, 3-1), which was hoping to put itself alone in first place in district with a win.
Willy Pena earned the first of two sacrifice RBIs to start things off and Eddie Galvan followed with a RBI single. Moments later, Galvan and Vela scored off a throwing error from third to first.
The Patriots loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth. Vela drilled a two-run double, Matt De La Garza scored on a passed ball and Pena contributed his second sacrifice RBI for the final run.
Mission Vets did all of its damage against Valley View right-hander Alexis Flores, who allowed eight runs (five earned) on five hits, walked six and struck out three in four innings. Flores was the emergency starter after projected starter Aaron Rodriguez, one of the Tigers’ top pitchers, was injured during pregame warm-ups.
Mission Vets only had six hits, but made them count. Vela, meanwhile, had no blemishes aside from a pair of walks to lead-off hitter Ricardo Sanchez.
“It was fastball and curveball,” said Pena, who has caught Vela this season. “We hardly had to go to a changeup. We kept them off balance. We got ahead in counts, he threw good pitches.”
No Tiger hit the ball past the infield.
“We came in feeling good about ourselves and we didn’t do what we were supposed to do,” Valley View coach Mario Gonzalez said through a translator. “When you can’t put the ball in play, you don’t give yourself a chance to win.
“(Vela) was aggressive in the strike zone. We were passive. Once we got behind, that was pretty much the game.”
Gonzalez, fielding a team consisting of eight sophomores this season, said he’d have to go back to square one. It was a big game for both teams, but Smith implied it may have been bigger for one than the other.
“I didn’t,” Smith said when asked how much emphasis he put on this game. “We talked all week long about worrying about ourselves. If we’re focused and we play hard, that’s all we need to take care of, regardless of the opponent.
“We know there’s going to be a challenge every Tuesday and Friday, and for us our main job is to focus and play hard.”
Smith is wary of fast starts. The Patriots started 31-5A play with five straight wins last season before losing a couple in a row and settling for a 10-2 record.
“We’re a hitting a stride early and we’re doing well,” Vela said. “It’s a confidence-booster knowing we’re the only (31-5A) team still unbeaten. But we still have to keep getting better and keep working hard.”