By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Rivera only needed one inning to make the difference against Hanna.
The Raiders’ offense exploded for eight runs in the third inning and starting pitcher Johnny Balli did the rest in a 9-4 victory over the Golden Eagles in a District 32-6A game Friday at Hanna. Rivera also defeated Hanna 5-1 on Tuesday at home.
“I just want to give the grace to God, I let my hard work show,” Balli said. “Our team had a lot of confidence coming into the season … we’re competing with a good team going 2-0. It’s a big sign we do have potential on our team and we can go far in the playoffs.”
The Raiders sent 12 players to the plate in the third and used three hits, five walks and two hits batsmen to score eight runs to take an 8-0 advantage and roughed up two Eagles pitchers before another reliever took his turn on the mound.
“We’re playing our best baseball right now,” Rivera coach Travis Parker said. “The way we approached that inning … we felt if we could jump on them, we felt we had the advantage. One turned into eight and that was the ball game.”
Balli earned the win for Rivera (2-0 in District 32-6A) after going 6 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on three hits, walked just one and struck out nine and had three hits batsmen. The right-hander allowed three of those in one inning on a couple wild pitches and a fielders choice, but otherwise kept Hanna (0-2) off-balanced the rest of the night. He also helped his own cause with two walks at the plate and scored a pair of runs.
“Johnny is our work horse and we expect that from him every time he goes out there,” Parker said. “When he’s on like that, it’s going to be tough for the hitters.”
It was scoreless until the third, when the Raiders suddenly got its bats going. Rivera stated the inning with a pair of walks and then got a hits batsman to load them up. Danny Alvear was hit by a pitch to bring in a run and Omar Rodriguez followed with a two-run single to center to bring home two more. The Raiders then drew three straight walks, including one by Diego Gonzalez with the bases loaded to score another run. Jesus Ibarra and Allen Eguia followed with an RBI single each and added a run via a passed ball for an 8-0 lead.
“We just couldn’t find the strike zone and it’s tough to defend a walk,” Hanna coach Jameson Wicks said. “I’d rather them string together a few hits and make our defense work opposed to giving free passes. It’s a tough pill to swallow. Not to take anything from (Rivera) they came out and competed. We can’t expect to come back from a deficit like that … those get you in the rear end, a big inning like that and changes the dynamic of the game.”
In the bottom half of the third, the Eagles got a few runs back. Hanna scored two runs on wild pitches and another run on a fielders choice, but still trailed 8-3.
Rivera added a run in the seventh on an RBI single by Gonzalez to push the lead to 9-3.
Gonzalez and Rodriguez each finished with a pair of RBIs and scored a run for the Raiders.
The Eagles got one back on a passed ball, but it couldn’t get any more runs across the plate in the district loss.
Hanna starting pitcher Rolando Ramirez took the loss after he went just 2 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on one hit, walked two and struck out one and had a pair of hits batsmen.
“We’re a still a good ball club,” Wicks said. “We’re 0-2 to start district, but we have quite a few games to play. I know these guys aren’t worried. It’s tough; it’s been a tough week. We just need to focus on the next game, not the rest of the season. We’re going to regroup.”
It was the first time in Parker’s tenure that one of his teams beat Hanna in district and they did it in back-to-back games.
“I’m excited about the opportunity, the group we have, I’m so proud of them,” Parker said. “Our expectations are high and we expect to meet those expectations and now it’s about playing the game and we’re playing it really well at this point in the season. We have to bring the same energy day in and day out. That’s the toughest thing, that mental edge every single time and if we do that we should hopefully be in the thick of things.”
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.