BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — The two best teams in District 30-6A met on Tuesday night in a heavyweight showdown.
La Joya Palmview and McAllen High both came into the game with 4-0 district records, and McAllen High held on to earn the 4-2 victory.
“It was very exciting,” McAllen High junior Robbie Maldonado said. “It was a win to be first in district, and we accomplished it.”
Many fans had hoped for a matchup of the aces, but both teams stuck with their rotations, and the offense was still tame, at best.
McAllen High scored its four runs without an extra-base hit. Palmview only had two extra-base hits, stranding one of the runners at second.
Both pitchers threw great games. Palmview senior Elias Ovalle threw all seven, giving up just four hits and two walks while fanning six. McHi answered with junior Abanny Garcia, who shook off a sore knee to throw a masterful complete game.
Garcia pumped strikes into the zone, throwing off Palmview’s patient approach. He struck out 16 while scattering 4 hits and 2 runs.
“I felt great out there today,” Garcia said. “My fastball was really working for me. That is one of my best starts.”
Garcia has had a nagging knee soreness for a little while. He wore a knee brace, which he said gave him more of an issue than the injury itself. But he shook off the discomfort to continue his dominant start. Garcia had a perfect game through four innings with 10 strikeouts before Palmview senior designated hitter Jesus Guzman led off the fifth with a double. Palmview would score two runs in that inning on three hits and an error.
Palmview’s Ovalle was let down by his defense.
“We didn’t hit one single ball hard today,” McAllen High coach Eliseo Pompa said. “That is just the way baseball is. We hit a dinker over there and scored a run, passed ball, we scored a run, and we won 4-2. Sometimes you have to be lucky. I think today, the baseball gods were with us.”
McHi created runs with aggressive base running. In the third inning, Maldonado showed off his wheels by legging out an infield single. He advanced all the way around the bases one passed ball at a time.
Maldonado beat out a close play at home after the ball went to Palmview sophomore catcher Albino Villarreal’s right. Villarreal retrieved it quickly and delivered an accurate throw, but Maldonado slid in ahead of the tag from Ovalle.
“It was instinct,” Maldonado said. “Whatever they give me, I’m going to take. I took a quick glance to see if it got past him, it did and I went.”
The Bulldogs added another run later that inning, when a ball dropped in between the second baseman, first baseman and right fielder, who all expected the other to make the play.
“We were very fired up after that inning,” Maldonado said. “It got us the lead, and it put us in a situation where we could get the momentum on our side.”
In the bottom of the fourth, McAllen High freshman third baseman Aaron Nixon reached on a leadoff walk. He stole second, then came home on a throw that got past the first baseman on a routine groundout. Nixon’s heads-up base running led to the winning run.
In the sixth, McAllen High tacked on an insurance run when senior Luis Keola Zamora reached on an error, stole second and came home on another passed ball.
The difference in the game was Garcia’s stellar pitching.
“He’s always been a pitcher that keeps the ball low and throws strikes,” Pompa said.
“I always throw strikes, because if they hit the ball, I know my defense can get to it,” Garcia added.
Maldonado says the team takes great pride in being able to field for Garica and the rest of the staff.
“We work very hard every day on our defense,” Maldonado said. “Defense is the key to winning.”