LA JOYA — With two outs and a one-run lead during the top of the seventh inning, La Joya High pitcher Angel Solis and catcher Jose Gutierrez met midway between the mound and home plate.
“It’s just me and you, just me and you,” Gutierrez said to Solis.
Three pitches and one strikeout later, La Joya was celebrating its 3-2 comeback victory over PSJA High as the Coyotes defeated the defending District 30-6A champion Bears in this season’s district opener.
“We all just worked hard, fought until the end. We didn’t want to lose our first district game, especially against last year’s district champions,” Solis said.
PSJA High jumped ahead 2-0 early after an error allowed one run to score during the second, and Jacob Sanchez drove in another during the third with a laser to left-centerfield.
La Joya responded by handing the ball to Solis, who started the game in right field.
Solis entered in relief of J.C. Gutierrez and struck out eight batters over the final four innings, allowing just one hit, three walks and, most importantly, kept the Bears off the scoreboard.
“Angel did a great job; I couldn’t be more proud of him,” La Joya head coach Mario Flores said. “He’s a hard worker and he’s all about the team. He came in and did his job.”
Despite pitching just three innings, starting pitcher J.C. Gutierrez didn’t hang his head. Instead, he gave life to the Coyotes as he sparked La Joya’s three-run bottom of the fourth, which put his team out in front for good.
“When he’s (J.C. Gutierrez) faced with adversity, he always finds a way to bounce back and make things happen. He’s a gamer,” Flores said.
One run scored on an error, Gutierrez drove in one run on a liner to left, and JR Ramos was responsible for the third run of the inning as his grounder to second allowed Solis to cross the plate.
“We’re just a team that’s young with a lot of potential,” said Solis, who improved to 9-1-1 on the year and 1-0 in District 30-6A.
“When we’re faced with adversity, we have to win those championship innings, which is five, six and seven. I was telling them we have to finish the job,” Flores said.
The loss was PSJA High’s first this season as the Bears fell to 10-1 overall and 0-1 in district. Sanchez went 1 for 4 with one RBI, while Pablo Treviño also had one RBI. On the mound, Sanchez pitched six innings, allowing just four hits and two earned runs, while striking out five batters.
La Joya’s Solis and J.C. Gutierrez combined to strikeout 13 and surrendered just two hits.
Next up for the Coyotes is the Louie Alamia Baseball Tournament in Edinburg from Thursday through Saturday. La Joya is set to face Sharyland High and Edinburg High on Day 1 of the tournament at 12:15 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Edinburg High School.
Meanwhile, the Bears will get ready for the PSJA ISD Mike Rodriguez Baseball Tournament, which will be hosted by PSJA High, PSJA Memorial, PSJA North and PSJA Southwest. The Bears will open up tournament play with games against Los Fresnos and Rio Grande City at 11:15 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday, both at PSJA High.