By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Pace was in a must-win situation against Lopez and lived to fight another day.
The Vikings used their bats to get a pair of three-run innings and back a strong outing by pitcher Jose Banda for a 6-1 victory over the Lobos in a District 32-5A game Tuesday at Lopez.
Carlos Ortiz was the spark to get Pace going and finished 2 for 3 with a double, a run scored and a pair of RBIs. Banda went 6 2/3 innings and allowed just one run on three scattered hits, walked five, struck out 10 and had a hit batsman to earn the crucial victory.
“It feels good; it’s an amazing feeling,” Ortiz said after the win and for the chance to earn a postseason berth later this week. “Our mindset is the same, we still had a chance (to get to the playoffs), no one gave up … we just have to keep it going.”
Pace finished 6-8 in District 32-5A, but more importantly, tied for the fourth spot and will play Donna North in a one-game playoff game Friday to determine who gets a trip to the postseason in a time and location to be determined.
“Regardless of what happened (Tuesday), this is a huge step for this baseball program,” Pace coach Roy Rodriguez said. “A huge building block. Kudos to my kids, they never gave up … I told them before the game to go out there and play your game and have fun and that’s what they did.
“I’m proud of the kids, we fought and fought and fought the whole way and we live another day.”
Lopez (11-3) had already earned a playoff spot, but couldn’t get its offense going enough in the district finale.
It was a scoreless game until the fourth inning. The Lobos broke through with an RBI single by Ivan Banuelos to take a 1-0 lead.
The Vikings finally got going in the next inning and put three runs on the board to take a 3-1 lead. Chris Rodriguez reached on an error to start the inning and scored on Ortiz’s RBI single to tie the game at 1. Oritz scored on a double by Angel Gomez and then Gomez came home on an RBI single to center by Banda.
“Carlos came up big with a hit to left center and it opened up the flood gates,” the Vikings coach said. “Jose Banda, our freshman, did a heck of a job and he has a bright future ahead of him with us.”
Pace added three runs in the sixth inning. Jose Lara drove in a run on a single to center and another run scored on errant throw. Then Ortiz added an RBI double to extend the lead to 6-1.
“We didn’t get the bats going,” Lopez coach Victor Martinez said. “We made some errors and I told the kids, ‘errors mean runs.’ We have to play errorless ball games. They’re a playoff caliber team and they put the ball in play. We committed a couple errors and they scored on those errors.”
Jesus De Leon took the loss for Lopez after he went four innings and allowed three runs on four hits, walked one and struck out five.
The Lobos had already clinched a playoff berth last week. It was their first since 2013, so even the loss wasn’t going to spoil their mood.
“It’s awesome to be back in the postseason,” Martinez said. “These kids really earned it; they’ve worked really hard in the offseason. They bonded, they built good chemistry and it showed throughout our season. To finish second in this tough district, it’s been a successful season and we want to continue on.
“If you want to keep going, you have to keep working hard.”
Pace had its ups and downs this season, but came through when it counted to give it a chance at the postseason.
“I’m proud of the kids … the way we’ve played all year, up and down … we keep working and this is the end result, we’re fighting for another game on Friday,” Rodriguez said of the one-game playoff for the fourth and final playoff spot. “We know what they have and they know what we have … at this point you stick to the basics and be ready to play.”
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.