By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
PORT ISABEL — Port Isabel started with plenty of offense, but a lack of timely hitting down the stretch gave Raymondville an opportunity.
The Tarpons led 4-0 early on, but the Bearkats got their bats going late and scored five unanswered runs to come back and take a 5-4 victory in a District 32-4A game Friday.
“We didn’t hit,” Port Isabel coach Robert Holland said of his team’s offense late in the game. “In other games we’ve lost, we’re not hitting. Our pitchers have been ok, but we have to score runs. After the second inning, we seemed satisfied.”
Down 4-3 heading into the final inning, Raymondville had runners on the corners with one out when Paul Villapando came through with a two-run single to give the Bearkats the lead and that proved to be the game-winning hit.
With the win to start the second half of district play, Raymondville is now 2-6 in District 32-4A and Port Isabel falls to 4-4.
As it turned out, Raymondville played with some inspiration. Head coach Judson Savage was absent from the game to be with his family for his terminally ill mother-in-law. According to assistant coach David Perez, who substituted for Savage on Friday, found out during the game that she had passed away.
“I told the guys, ‘let’s do this for coach,’” Perez said to his team during the late innings. “Play your hearts out and believe you can win.”
Bearkats starting pitcher Marcus Capettillo was solid, going five innings and allowed four runs on three hits, walked none and struck out three. Ricky Hernandez pitched the final two innings, he allowed no runs on just one hit, walked none and struck out one and got the win for Raymondville.
Port Isabel got off to a fast start. The Tarpons put three runs across the plate in the first inning, one on an RBI-single by Trey Mock, who later scored on a throwing error and then Port Isabel added another run on error for the early 3-0 edge.
The Tarpons added another run in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Francis to push the lead to 4-0. But that would be it for Port Isabel as its bats cooled off down the stretch.
“We have to hit, plain and simple,” Holland said. “We didn’t get key hits … they did.”
But Raymondville started its comeback in the fourth inning with a run after Jaden Tagle drew a bases-loaded walk, but the Bearkats left them loaded as Port Isabel starting pitcher Christopher Bode got out of a jam with a groundout.
The Bearkats scored a pair of runs in the fifth inning, one on a throwing error and the other on a sacrifice fly by Capettillo to pull within 4-3.
Both teams went scoreless in the sixth inning and set the stage for Raymondville’s last chance in the seventh inning, which the Bearkats made the most of their opportunity to win their second district game of the season.
“They never backed down, they never gave up,” Perez said. “They kept fighting and with all that emotion they pulled through.”
Bode went 4 1/3 innings for Port Isabel, he allowed three runs on six hits, walked four and struck out one. Kaleb Martinez took the loss after going 2 2/3 innings and allowed two runs on two hits, walked none and struck out two for the Tarpons.
The Tarpons have been up and down after a 2-0 start in district.
“We’re digging a hole (for ourselves) and we better do what we supposed to,” Holland said. “We’re not used to this … we’re not used to this. They have to respond. They get on their heels in some games and we haven’t done that either.”
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.