BY TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
EDINBURG — Right after Edinburg Economedes’ dramatic 4-3 extra-inning win over PSJA North, Jaguars players gave coach Rigo Sanchez a Gatorade shower.
They had reason to.
With the victory Tuesday at Economedes, the Jaguars solidified a winning record for the first time in at least a decade and qualified for the state baseball playoffs by claiming fourth place District 31-6A.
“We knew coming into this ball game it was our destiny. It was in our hands, and we had to come and take care of business,” Sanchez said. “I told them the pressure is going to be on us tonight, and we just have to overcome it, and that’s exactly what we did. I am very proud of my boys tonight. They played to the last out.”
For Economedes (12-9, 7-6 ), that last out came in the eighth inning.
After Economedes went up 3-1 through six innings, PSJA North (12-11, 5-8) woke up and scored two runs in the top of the seventh off sloppy Economedes defense and a couple of hits. Damien Rodriguez’s single drove in both runs to knot the score at three.
Economedes came up empty in the bottom of the seventh and forced the game into extra innings.
PSJA North put two men in scoring positions in the top of the eighth, but it was to no avail. The Raiders were left stranded, and Jaguars were back up to bat.
After DH Christian Gaytan walked, substitute Lee Maldonado bunted to get on first, moving the lead runner to second.
PSJA North mishandled the next bunt by Eli Alanis, and a passed ball with the bases loaded allowed Gaytan to come home and score the winning run.
The playoff-bound Jaguars collected eight hits and six walks off PSJA North pitchers.