By Stefan Modrich | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN – For the first five innings of Harlingen South’s district opener, Los Fresnos starting pitcher Victor Loa was untouchable and the temperature seemingly continued to dip from 48 degrees at first pitch with each punch-out.
The sophomore left-hander struck out 18 batters and allowed three hits — one of which came off the bat of senior pinch-hitter Nick Muniz — sparking a 2-1 come-from-behind victory for the Hawks (7-2-1, 1-0 32-6A) on Tuesday night.
Harlingen South coach Chris Gracia said the next-man-up mentality is what he expects from his experienced group.
“(Muniz) came through in a big way for us,” Gracia said. “We’re counting on Nick a lot, he’s a senior, he’s had some injuries. It’s been tough for us to get him out there, so we’ve kind of limited him a bit. He was ready to go. And that’s one of the things I tell the guys, you never know when your name is going to be called, and he was.”
Loa walked center fielder Carlos Martinez to lead off the home half of the sixth inning, and left fielder CJ Grimaldo reached on a bunt single. He struck out right fielder Ethan Garcia, which brought up the pitcher’s spot, prompting Gracia to insert one of his most seasoned hitters off the bench.
Muniz launched a double into the gap in right center field, scoring Martinez and Garcia and giving the Hawks their first lead of the evening.
“I got the opportunity and I produced,” Muniz said. “I was just sitting back, waiting for a fastball because he throws a lot of first pitch fastballs. He threw me a curveball and just sat back on it and took it the other way.”
The Falcons (7-5, 0-1 32-6A) threatened from the jump in the first inning, when Harlingen South starting pitcher Trey Vento walked the bases loaded, but escaped the jam unscathed after a pop-out to first on a sacrifice bunt attempt, a strikeout, and a fielder’s choice.
“Trey struggled with his command a little bit,” Gracia said. “But we knew we had guys who could come in and get the job done for us. He’s not going to struggle like that all the time, and he’s going to be on, and when he is, that makes us a little bit scarier. It’s one guy picking up the other guy, so that’s what we’re practicing and preaching here.”
But Los Fresnos knocked on the door again in the second, and second baseman Kevin Ledesma scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch after being hit by a pitch and advancing to third on an error.
Luke Castellanos came on in the fourth inning to relieve Vento after 3 1/3 innings of one-run ball, plus six walks and four strikeouts from the Harlingen South starter.
The Hawks, led by the senior right-hander, showed their mettle in the sixth inning after Castellanos allowed singles to first baseman Jorge Gonzalez and third baseman Carlos Perez. He struck out shortstop Javy Gutierrez and retired right fielder Johnny Cadengo on a fly ball to right to end the frame.
“My approach was to produce and throw strikes,” Castellanos said. “And let my defense work.”
As Loa began to rack-up outs — he retired six in a row and nine of the first 10 hitters he faced — the sense of urgency for Harlingen South began to grow.
“ Victor’s a great pitcher, man,” Gracia said. “We knew he was going to bring his best, and he held us down the whole time. Really, we got that one hit off of them, and that happened to be the difference.”
Both Gracia and Castellanos observed that another difference, particularly between this year’s Harlingen South squad and last year’s, is experience.
When Grimaldo made an error on a line drive by Isaac Franco that allowed the tying run aboard, Castellanos never flinched. Even when a sacrifice fly from Loa put just 90 feet between Franco and potential extra innings, Castellanos dug deep to get through the heart of the Los Fresnos order to clinch their first district win of the year.
“We have each other’s backs,” Castellanos said. “We picked (Grimaldo) back up, and I had to produce. And I did, (because of) the chemistry that we have going with this great group of guys.”