By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers are outright District 32-5A baseball champions for the second straight year.
The Chargers (20-5, 11-1 district) clinched another 32-5A crown by defeating Porter 13-5 on Thursday on their home diamond.
“It feels great,” Brownsville Veterans coach Albert Rodriguez said. “The first one was sweet. The second one is even sweeter.”
The Chargers got their bats in action early in the game. They led 5-0 after one inning and 9-0 after two frames. It was 11-2 after four innings and 11-4 after five. The Chargers added two runs for a 13-4 advantage during the bottom of the sixth before the Cowboys (5-7 district) pushed across a single run during the top of the seventh for a 13-5 tally, and that was the final outcome.
Brownsville Veterans still has home games next Tuesday and Friday against Lopez and Edcouch-Elsa to complete its district schedule.
Rodriguez was doused with the contents of the water cooler Thursday after the 2-hour, 45-minute game as the Chargers celebrated another outright district trophy.
“We’ve had some good production at the plate this season,” Rodriguez said. “I think we’re executing better offensively, and our pitching has been there consistently.
“I think now going to the plate and having a good mental approach (to hitting) is putting pressure on the opposing pitchers,” the Chargers coach added. “Any little thing that we can use to win a game is just going to help us become even better.”
The Chargers were focused at the plate against the Cowboys. It showed in the batting stats as they outhit the Cowboys 8-7.
Leading the way for the Chargers at the plate was Javier Hinojosa, who batted 2-for-4 with one RBI. Teammate Ruben Gallegos batted 1-for-3 with three RBIs.
Cristos Sauceda, Cesar Lartigue and Juan Segoviano each had a pair of hits for the Cowboys, with Sauceda finishing with two RBIs and Lartigue with one.
The Cowboys hurt themselves with eight errors.
Brownsville Veterans starter Jorge Lozano earned the mound victory.
The game began with 30 mph gusts of wind. It was considerably calmer by the time the contest ended.