By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s Freddy Villarreal continues to throw gems.
Villarreal threw another no-hitter and struck out 14 to lead the Chargers to a 1-0 win over Los Fresnos and more importantly wrapped up their second consecutive District 32-6A title on Friday night.
“I was looking forward to this game since the start (of the season),” he said. “I knew we were probably going to battle with Los Fresnos for the district title. I was so hyped up and confident. It was a close game the first time, so I wanted to come out and compete (Friday).”
Villarreal allowed just one walk and had a hits batsman in the complete game effort to claim another district title for the Chargers (12-1 in District 32-6A).
“(Fred) told me on Tuesday he was ready,” Brownsville Veterans coach Eric Gonzalez said. “He hasn’t told me that before. I knew he’s always ready, but this time he told me and I knew he was going to come out and throw well.”
Los Fresnos (10-3) hit the ball hard, but the Brownsville Veterans defense was ready, making sure Villarreal’s no-hit bid continued throughout the night.
“We just couldn’t muster anything,” Los Fresnos coach Rene Morales said. “We were taking some good cuts, but we were late or we were fouling off a lot of pitches early. (Villarreal) made pitches when he had to.”
The Chargers backed Villarreal with their lone run in the fifth inning. Sammy Chapa singled with one out and advanced to second on Mike Mendoza’s groundout. With two outs, Jimmy Moody smacked a double down the right field line to score Chapa and was then thrown out at third base trying to stretch the hit into a triple. Brownsville Veterans took the 1-0 lead and that’s all Villarreal would need.
Villarreal continued to dominate and closed the down on the Falcons in the seventh inning after allowing a two-out walk. He struck out the next batter to seal the win, the no-hitter and another district championship for Brownsville Veterans.
“It was always a goal to get back-to-back district championships,” Villarreal said. “So it’s great that were champs again.”
The Falcons starting pitcher Nick Montemayor took the loss, but he was nearly as tough as Villarreal. Montemayor went the distance, allowing just the one run on five scattered hits, walked one and struck out two.
“It’s just one game, just like the other 12 we’ve played, we lost but we played tough and they did everything I asked them to do,” Morales said. “We battled, I’m proud of the way we played. We’re going to keep doing what we do and go from there.”
Gonzales was happy to celebrate a district title during his first season at the helm. Brownsville Veterans also won a District 32-6A title last year with a 13-1 mark in district play and can match that record this season with a win on Tuesday against Lopez at home.
“It feels great, I feel blessed that I had a good group of guys,” he said. “I’m the coach so I get the credit getting the district championship, but they’re the ones on the field and deserve the credit, it’s been a good year for us and hopefully we can keep it going.”
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