BY BRYAN RAMOS | STAFF WRITER
PHARR – The McAllen Rowe Warriors took their game on the road Friday night and walked away with a 5-1 district win over PSJA North in a matchup of playoff teams from a season ago.
The rain came in late, causing the game to be called in the bottom of the seventh, but the Warriors did enough damage early to take control of the 30-6A meeting.
Rowe scored three runs in the top of the third to break a 1-1 tie as Ruben Campos doubled to bring in Isaac Gallegos from second. Chris Reyna followed that with a two-run base hit to put the Warriors up 4-1. Gallegos stole three bases for Rowe, giving them seven on the night.
“We’ve been working at practice at having those good at-bats, making sure that if we’re going to put pressure on people, we can’t be stealing and popping the ball up,” Rowe coach Adrian Leal said. “We’ve been looking for different ways, we had seven stolen bases today and these kids have just found a way to make the best of what they’re dealt.”
McAllen Rowe added another run in the top of the sixth as Gallegos crossed the plate on a Raider error to seal up the 5-1 final and improve to 2-1 in District 30-6A play.
Two Warriors got the job done on the mound for Rowe as Jorge Melendez went five innings and surrendered just one run, with Gallegos stepping in to close out the game. Melendez was aided by the defensive play from catcher Lorenzo Lopez, who threw out two runners attempting to steal second, and caught another Raider in a pickle down the third-base line.
“Lorenzo came in last year as a freshman and he played well. He takes criticism well, he only gets better from it,” Leal said. “He’s a kid with a lot of mental toughness. He’s a good-spirited kid, he’s top-10 percent in his class and comes to work every day with a good, positive attitude. He’s our backbone, without him behind the plate, it’d be tough to see where we’re at, but with him we feel very comfortable.”
Jimmy Ortiz drove in the Warriors’ first run, finishing 1 for 2 with an RBI and a walk.
The Raiders were only able to put up one run in the first inning before going cold at the plate. Damian Martinez came through with a base hit for PSJA North to score leadoff man Marty Alvarado.
The loss sends PSJA North to 8-10-1 on the year and 1-2 in district play. Meanwhile, the Warriors improve to 11-6-1 and 2-1 in 30-6A action.
“As soon as we finish one game, whether it’s win or lose, it’s on to the next one,” Leal said as his Warriors prepare for PSJA High on Tuesday. “That’s one thing that we’ve been trying to do, trying to be focused for seven innings and be intense with our play. I know it’s two, but we got a workout in the morning and we got to get ready for Tuesday because we got a good opponent in PSJA, just like we did today.”