BY BRYAN RAMOS | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — The La Joya Palmview Lobos hosted a playoff game on its home-field for the first time in program history Friday night.
Facing a win-or-go home situation in a one-game playoff against the District 32-5A champion Brownsville Veterans Chargers, the Lobos rewarded their crowd by making history.
Palmview’s Jon Martinez pitched a complete game as the junior held the potent Chargers offense to just one hit on the night, leading the Lobos to a 2-0 win to advance to the area round of the playoffs.
The right-handed flame-thrower consistently broke 90 miles per hour with his fastball and kept Brownsville Veterans off-balance. But he said the help from the defense behind him was the difference.
“Not just me, but the team in general did good. Everybody was making plays. If you look at the stats, I only had like six strikeouts, so my defense was making plays because we got 21 outs,” Martinez said. “Defensively, great game. Offensively, we came through when we needed to. It’s a great team win and the fans really showed out. I love the atmosphere here.”
Martinez squared off against Brownsville Veterans starter Justin Anaya for three innings before Christian Holloway entered the game to pitch three more for the Chargers. Neither could match Martinez, however, as they combined to allow five hits and two runs, one of which was unearned.
Palmview coach Manuel Garcia Jr. said his team just needed to play like themselves as they have all year with wins over Sharyland High, Sharyland Pioneer and Rio Grande City under their belt. Martinez was on the mound for each of them.
“I told him if he pitched well enough to make them hit grounders, your defense will step up for you and that’s what they did. We coached him to pitch to contact and the defense had to step it up and I’m proud of the kids,” Garcia said. “They have become a team after struggling the last couple years. We missed the playoffs last year and it felt bad, but we just made history at Palmview High School playing a playoff game here. I’m proud of the kids and proud of the coaching staff and the hours we put in.”
Palmview’s first run came during the third off what looked like a routine pop fly to left field by Erbey Polanco that got lost in the sun, dropping 10 feet in front of the nearest Charger, allowing AJ Balderas to score from third. Carlos Montelongo delivered a line drive to center during the sixth to bring Paulo Landeros across the plate for the 2-0 lead.
Brownsville Veterans had just three base runners on the night on two walks and the one hit, which came off the bat of Rafael Capistran during the first inning. The Chargers wouldn’t touch Martinez again after that.
“Whenever Palmview has their ace on the mound, they can be really tough to beat. They already beat four of the top teams in the Valley. Kudos to their pitcher, he’s a D-I caliber pitcher,” Brownsville Veterans coach Alberto Rodriguez said. “We put the ball in play here and there, but he’s one of those pitchers that’s a bulldog that’s going to come at you no matter what. I told the guys we got to persevere. We’re a young group, most of us are coming back. We’re going to bounce back and this is going motivate us for next year.”
Palmview’s win gives District 31-5A a sweep over 32-5A as they outscored the opposition 48-0 in five bi-district games. Martinez said the win motivates them to work even harder after being doubted.
“Everyone was saying it’s just another week. But we came into practice, we wanted to win, we were focused and we just got it done,” Martinez said.