By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
All it took was a string of hot bats in the sixth inning to win Game 1.
The Los Fresnos Falcons scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to beat the Weslaco High Panthers 8-1 and take a 1-0 lead in a Class 6A bi-district playoff series Friday at Los Fresnos.
Los Fresnos coach Rene Morales thought his team looked nervous at first but settled after getting a couple of at-bats.
“We just made a couple of adjustments here and there, and (Weslaco High pitcher Ulises Hernandez) walked a couple of guys then we hit the ball,” Morales said. “We kind of just broke it open.”
The Falcons had only two base hits before 13 batters combined for four hits and six walks in the sixth.
Abel Rodriguez broke the dam open with the game tied at 1-1 when he hit a two-run single with the bases loaded.
Nick Montemayor came to the plate and drove in two more before scoring himself after a throw from the cutoff man to third went high, giving Los Fresnos a 6-1 lead.
The Falcons scored two more runs off walks to give Los Fresnos a seven-run advantage heading into the seventh inning.
“That was big. That gave us a lot of momentum,” Montemayor said. “We always come in clutch when we have to.”
Los Fresnos used that momentum to close out the game in the seventh and hopes it can ride it into today’s games.
“Every game’s different, every game’s different,” Morales said. “We’re going to approach it like it’s another game. I don’t know who we’re going to face (at pitcher). We’ll make our adjustments at the plate and we’ll go from there. It gives us confidence. I know that.”
Weslaco High managed to get a base runner in scoring position with one out in the seventh but back-to-back pop flies ended any chance of a rally.
Montemayor earned the win with a five-hit complete game, walked three and struck out two. He also walked twice as a batter. Nathaniel Reyna walked three times, stole two bases and scored a run for the Falcons.
Hernandez gave up six earned runs in five frames against Los Fresnos to record the loss.
Los Fresnos played small ball to get its first run in the evening. Zack Bridgewater laid down a sacrifice bunt to put Miguel Gonzalez on third with one out and Mark Cortinas brought him in the next at-bat with a sacrifice fly to center field.
The Panthers scored its lone run in the fifth inning when Tyler Lopez drove in Axel Camarena with a single. Andy Pompa led Weslaco High by hitting 1 for 1 with two walks and a steal.
The series heads to Weslaco today, and Weslaco High coach Eddie Serna believes his team will move past the sour ending of Friday’s game with two more chances to win bi-district.
“It’s just one game. The series is two out of three,” Serna said. “The kids are going to come out and they’re going to play (today). It’s a brand new day. The only motivation is that we get to come out with two games to go. We’ll come out to play.”
Game 2 starts at 1 p.m. today and Game 3, if necessary, will follow 30 minutes after the end of Game 2.
Joshua McKinney covers high school sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @joshuabvherald.