By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
SAN JUAN — The Edinburg Vela Sabercats rallied to win again. This time it meant the end of the baseball season for the Los Fresnos Falcons.
The Sabercats trailed 2-1 Saturday but came alive to score three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to prevail 4-3 in the deciding Game 3 of a Class 6A regional quarterfinal series at PSJA High’s C.V. Cain Field.
On Friday in Game 2 at Los Fresnos, Vela trailed 5-2 before rallying to win 12-7. In the series opener on Thursday, the Falcons edged the Sabercats 5-4 at C.V. Cain Field.
District 31-6A champion Vela (27-5) advances to the regional semifinals for the first time after going three rounds in the playoffs a season ago. The Sabercats will face San Antonio Churchill or San Antonio Madison in the coming week.
Vela coach Jaime Perez, who was doused with the contents of the team’s water cooler by his players immediately after the contest, said it was quite an interesting, back-and-forth series between two evenly matched ballclubs.
“ We lost a tough one here (at C.V. Cain Field) Thursday night, and the resiliency of this team showed in Games 2 and 3,” Perez said. “More than anything, we showed our character (by coming back to take the series).
“ That’s the great thing about baseball,” Perez added. “What a life-building sport baseball is because one moment you’re down and the next minute you’re up again. The character this team has is so special. I don’t think I can even (adequately) put it into words. It’s just amazing.”
Across the field, it was a somber atmosphere around the dugout for the Los Fresnos coaches and players, who could only console themselves after coming so close to being the team celebrating a victory.
The District 32-6A tri-champion Falcons closed their season with a 27-11 record.
“ It was a pretty even series and we just came up one run short in this one,” Los Fresnos coach Rene Morales said. “Hats off to Vela. They played great baseball like we did. It basically came down to one play (in the fifth inning). They got a big hit (to bring in two runs for a 3-2 lead) when they needed it. That’s baseball. You get a little momentum and then the other team gets it back. That’s what happens.”
Morales praised his players and coaches for a standout campaign.
“ I just love these guys to death and thanks to them for the ride they gave us this season,” the Falcons coach said. “We’re going to continue being a family and go from there.”
It was 1-1 after the first inning before Hugo Sanchez’s RBI single to center field in the top of the fifth gave Los Fresnos a 2-1 advantage.
The bottom of the fifth was when the Sabercats did their most damage. A two-out, two-run single to right-center field by Ramsey Amador made it 3-2 and put Vela out in front for good. The next batter was Erik Martinez and his RBI single up the middle increased Vela’s lead to 4-2.
In all, the Falcons gave up four hits and three runs in the bottom of the fifth.
In the top of the sixth, Los Fresnos’ Alex Salas reached base on a throwing error to first and got to second before moving over to third on a passed ball. Salas came home on another passed ball to pull the Falcons to within one run, 4-3, but that’s as close to the lead as they could come.
Vela finished with seven hits, while Los Fresnos had six.
Yulean Torrellas was Vela’s top performer at the plate as he batted 2-for-3. Amador went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and Martinez batted 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Victor Loa led the Falcons at the plate by batting 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and a single. J.J. Sanchez, Hugo Sanchez and George Villafranca each had a hit and Hugo Sanchez recorded an RBI.
Vela’s Nico Rodriguez started and picked up the pitching victory with relief help from Amador, who came to the mound with one out in the sixth. Together, they struck out 11 batters, walked three and had a hit batsman by Rodriguez.
The Falcons used three pitchers with Loa as the starter who took the loss. Victor Montemayor and J.J. Sanchez also took turns on the mound in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.
Perez emphasized that it was a closely fought series.
“ What a series,” the Vela coach said. “Coach Morales and his staff do a great job. We had to prepare for what they do time and time again. It made it hard on us a little bit. But our players did a really good job of handling things. Los Fresnos put some pressure on us and we worked on that.
“ What a heck of a series,” Perez added. “We’re making history at our school. What a great feeling this is right now (to be advancing to the regional semifinals).”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess