By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Pace’s Chris Rodriguez celebrated his birthday Friday, but he gave the gift to his team against Lopez.
Rodriguez hit a three-run home run that broke a tie game in the sixth inning and the Vikings came back to defeat the Lobos 11-9 in a District 32-5A game at Lopez.
The junior center fielder broke a 7-7 game with a blast that put Pace up for good. He went 3 for 3, a double, a home run, a walk, scored twice and finished with four RBIs. Not a bad way to celebrate a birthday, but the win was the most important.
“If felt amazing, I feel like I needed to step up to the plate,” Rodriguez said. “I was like 0 for 15 in my last few games. It was a must win, our backs were against the wall … it gives us a boost that we’re still in playoff contention.”
The victory pulls Pace (3-4 in District 32-5A) to a tie with Lopez (3-4) in the standings at the midpoint of the district season.
But it wasn’t easy for the Vikings that found themselves down early.
The Lobos put four across the plate in the first inning. Hector Serna drove in two runs with a single to center and two more runs scored on an error for a 4-0 lead.
Pace answered in the second inning after four consecutive hits, the latter two were consecutive RBI-singles by Jose Lara and Chris Rodriguez to cut the deficit to 4-2.
The Lobos weren’t done in the bottom half; Robert Guerra drove in a run on a single to right field and Serna connected on another two-run single to push the advantage to 7-2.
The teams went scoreless for a couple innings before the Vikings started their comeback.
Pace manufactured five runs in the fifth inning on a variety of hits, walks, an error and a hits batsman, including Santos Rodriguez drawing a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 7.
“When we were down 7-2, I told the kids we had a lot of playing time to go. We have to keep our composure and stay focused,” Pace coach Roy Rodriguez said. “We kept climbing back little by little. We preach the small things every day at practice and once people started getting on base and putting the ball in play, everyone body thought they could do the same.”
In the sixth, after a single and a walk put two runners on with two outs, Chris Rodriguez drove a pitch over the wall in left give the Vikings a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Pace added an insurance run in the seventh inning for good measure in the district victory.
“We started making errors and couldn’t throw strikes all of the sudden,” Lopez coach Victor Martinez said. “The kids have to be mentally tough. We showed signs of weakness there … we let it get to us and that hurt us.
“You have to play all seven innings, but we fell short.”
Serna did what he could for Lopez. He was 2 for 3 on a pair of singles and 4 RBIs at the plate and threw 4 2/3 innings on the mound. He had allowed just two runs in four innings before getting fatigued in the fifth and was tagged with five runs. He gave up 10 hits, walked four and struck out seven in a no decision.
It was a tough pill to swallow for Lopez after getting a lead early on.
“We can’t stop the offense because we have a lead, there’s no such thing as a comfortable lead,” Martinez said. “Baseball is a game of short memory. We have to put this behind us and get ready for the next one.”
For Pace it was hope to get back on track and contend for a postseason berth in the second half of district. And Chris Rodriguez started the Vikings on the right path.
“It was his day and everybody hit the ball and put it in play,” Roy Rodriguez said. “This is the first game of the season we’ve come back from so many runs down and I’m proud of the kids for keep fighting.
“It gives us confidence, but we have to continue to work.”
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.