By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
The Hanna baseball team has gotten used to playing in the postseason.
The Golden Eagles have reached the playoffs in each of coach Eddie Garcia’s seven seasons.
Hanna (3-1 in District 32-6A) is off to a good start in district play, its only loss coming to Brownsville Veterans Memorial (4-0) last week. But during that 2-0 loss, the Eagles learned a little about themselves.
“These kids now believe. They saw that they can compete against teams like (Brownsville Veterans),” Garcia said.
During the past few years, Hanna has seen its exit from the postseason occur after the first-round. To advance further, the Eagles have to find ways to beat teams like the Chargers, the defending district champions.
“Our goal isn’t to stop in the first-round,” Garcia said. “If we want to meet our goals realistically, we have to beat teams like this.”
Hanna faced Brownsville Veterans pitcher Fred Villarreal, one of the Valley’s top hurlers, and that helped the give the Eagles some perspective of their potential.
“That experience helps and it’s in their minds they can play with anybody,” Garcia said. “We have to keep our heads up, keep working. We’ve got a long way to go.”
SHOWING FIGHT
Pace’s young team showed what it was made of on Tuesday against Porter.
The Vikings not only held the Cowboys’ offense in check (Porter averages more than eight runs per game in District 32-5A), they handed Porter its first district loss of the season. The Cowboys went 13-1 and won the district title, and swept their crosstown rival in head-to-head games last season.
Pace (2-2 in District 32-5A) has played in several close games this season and earned its biggest win of the early season over Porter (3-1). The Vikings have had trouble closing out games this year, but got the job done against the Cowboys.
“Our kids will fight every ball game,” Pace coach Roy Rodriguez said. “Our biggest problem is we self-destruct one inning and it’s a big inning that we can’t get outs. It’s been positive growing pains for us.”
The 3-2 win over Porter provided a confidence boost for Pace. The Vikings hope that momentum will continue throughout district play and lead to their first postseason berth since 2011.
“We emphasize we have to play this game as if there’s no tomorrow,” Rodriguez said. “We have to play with that intensity, like our backs are against the wall. Our kids are fighters, that’s what I like.”
LEARNING EXPERIENCE
On the other hand, Porter treated its loss to Pace as a learning experience.
Before Tuesday, the Cowboys had outscored their district opponents 26-3 through three games and had averaged a dozen hits in the process.
The defending district champions struggled at the plate against Pace, they scored twice on just three hits and had two hitters reach via a walk and hit-by-a-pitch.
Porter coach Oscar Cortez said his team needed to deal with some adversity to help emphasize a point.
“I think it will bring them down to Earth,” he said. “It’s going to be a learning experience. They’re still hoping to fight for the district title. I know it’s going to be a tough road, but I think they’ll come through, we’ll be OK.”
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.