HARLINGEN — Heading into their matchup with crosstown rival Harlingen High, Harlingen South head coach Tony Leal said he and his team were looking to win one inning and see what happened after that.
Ironically, one innings was all the Hawks needed. Well, that and the arm of freshman pitcher Robert Mejia.
After giving up a run in the top of the first inning, Mejia shut down the Cardinals over the final six innings, lifting the Hawks to a 2-1 victory Friday night at Harlingen Field.
South didn’t have a big night at the plate, but a two-run inning in the bottom of the fourth was enough to put them over the top.
“Harlingen is a good ballclub, let’s first just say that,” Leal said. “The wind was a bit of a factor, but I’m going to give my kids credit. They came out here at 1-5 and tried to compete, that’s all we did. We got some breaks and Harlingen is a solid team — I’m proud of our kids tonight.”
Along with six shutout innings, Mejia struck out six batters and gave up just one run on three hits to pick up the win.
For the Hawk freshman, his confidence couldn’t have been higher.
“My teammates kept motivating me after that first inning and told me not to give up,” Mejia said. “That’s my game and I took it like it was mine; I knew I could. This win boosts my confidence, because if I can throw seven innings against Harlingen, I can go more against other teams.”
Harlingen’s Justin Reta took the loss despite allowing just two runs on four hits and picking up four Ks.
The win keeps Harlingen South in the District 32-6A race after the first half of district. Both the Hawks and Cardinals sit at 2-5, two games behind San Benito, which improved to 4-3 after a 14-0 beating of Brownsville Rivera.
Harlingen head coach Bryan Aughney said he felt his team could have been in a better position if it weren’t for his ballclub’s inconsistency.
“We refused to make adjustments offensively and I don’t know if we hit one hard ground ball all game,” Aughney said. “We talked about how Tuesday’s win (against Lopez) meant nothing if we couldn’t win tonight. We just keep digging ourselves a deeper hole. We have the talent but we refuse to make adjustments, but I’ll take responsibility for that.”
Early on, it looked like Harlingen would run away with the game after a quick single from leadoff man Kenneth Reininger and a South error put two Cardinal runners on base. Renninger scored on a Boedy Flores RBI to put the Red Birds up 1-0, but that was all they could muster as Flores was put out at first and Mejia retired the next two batters.
In the bottom of the fourth, a single from Alex De La Cruz and a double from Chad Roberts each brought in runners, giving the Hawks their wining inning and a lead they would not relinquish.
“We’re playing good ball and hopefully we can keep playing good ball,’ Leal said. “Some of these kids came through in the clutch tonight. The first inning looked like (Harlingen) would run away with it, but the kids didn’t put their heads down.”