By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Sometimes it just takes a spark to get things going.
Hanna got that from catcher Cesar Saldaña against Harlingen High.
With a scoreless game in the bottom of the fourth inning, Saldaña broke the tie with an RBI-single and the Golden Eagles piled up the runs thereafter in a 9-0 victory over the Cardinals in a District 32-6A game Tuesday at Hanna.
“All you need is a little spark and it turned out to be the spark we needed,” Hanna coach Eddie Garcia said. “That was a big-time hit and that’s what we’ve struggled at … two-out hits with runners in scoring position. Timely hitting has been nemesis all year long.
“This time Cesar went with it beautifully and it worked out.”
The win pushes Hanna (5-1 in District 32-6A) alone atop the standings and drops Harlingen High (4-2) to second place with a game to go at the midpoint of the district season.
After Saldaña’s hit, teammate Jay Medina followed with a run-scoring single of his own and the Eagles took a 2-0 lead through four innings.
“After they went up 1-0, our mentality just changed,” Harlingen High coach Bryan Aughney said. “We got down, hung our heads and then went down 2-0 … it snowballed from there.”
Hanna wasn’t done, adding three runs in the fifth inning to push the edge to 5-0. Raul Perez came through with an RBI-single and Cristian Gonzalez and Ricardo Perez each earned an RBI after each was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
The Eagles put it out of reach with four runs in the sixth inning. Raul Perez walked with the bases loaded to score a run and Efrain Martinez followed with a two-run single. Ricardo Perez added a sacrifice fly later in the inning for a 9-0 advantage.
Martinez finished the night 2 for 3, with a walk and two RBIs. Ivan Castillo and Jonathan Castro combined to go 3 for 5 with four runs scored and a pair of walks and a hits batman. Raul Perez was 1 for 3 with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs for the Eagles.
That was more than enough for Hanna starter Noe Guerrero, who threw a complete-game shutout. He allowed no runs on four hits, walked three and struck out 12.
“He keeps doing it,” Garcia said of his junior right-hander. “The kids Noe that we always have a chance with Noe on the mound. When we keep it clean and help behind him, we have a chance.”
Harlingen High starter Justin Reta took the loss after pitching into the fifth inning, but left without getting an out. He allowed four runs on six hits, walked two and struck out none.
Guerrero kept the Cardinals off-balanced all evening and got out of a couple jams with stellar defense. Harlingen High has now lost two of their last three in district play.
“Noe is good, he’s really good, he pitched out of some jams early in the game and seemed to get stronger as the game went on,” Aughney said. “We got outside our offensive philosophy. We started watching fastballs and swinging at breaking balls in the dirt. We have to mentally better. We have to take that next step as a team; we have to be ready (with every pitch).
“We’re close, but we have to get over this hump and be who we are all the time.”
Garcia was happy for his team to get the win and move up in the standings, but with eight more games in district play left, he emphasized there’s no time to celebrate.
“It’s great, any win in this district is tough to come by,” he said. “So against a good team like this, it’s even better. We have to move on and not dwell too much on it. Beating a team like this feels good. The kids are working hard 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.