By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers lost their Class 5A area-round series opener to the Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial Eagles 4-0 on Thursday in a game filled with uncharacteristic errors.
The Chargers couldn’t complete routine outs and allowed free bases and some unearned runs to Corpus Christi Veterans, leaving them playing from behind early. Eagles starting pitcher Jose Acuna tossed a gem to keep Brownsville Veterans’ batters off balance and unable to chip away at the deficit. The series will continue at 12 p.m. Saturday at Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi, with Game 3 following 30 minutes after if necessary.
“They did well, but we kind of gave them what they got,” Chargers coach Adam Vera said. “Their guy (Acuna) did a great job, throws really well. I thought our guy (Rafael Capistran) did a great job, too. But there were times early, on a routine grounder, we threw it away. Balls getting by guys. It was a lot of little things.”
Off-target throws were one of the key differences in the game. Brownsville Veterans made eight throws that sailed wide or couldn’t be corralled on a bounce to put Eagles runners on and move them around with ease. Corpus Christi Veterans designated hitter Nic Guerrero’s RBI single drove in a leadoff batter who reached on a throwing error in the second. Guerrero was thrown out trying to advance to second.
The Eagles extended their lead in the fourth. Second baseman Jake Martinez roped a double down the right-field line and scored on low throw to first after Nick Reyes’ fielder’s choice to third. Guerrero notched his second RBI on a fielder’s choice to shortstop to make it 3-0. The Chargers attempted to turn a double play on the contact, but the throw from second to first was off to put the batter on base.
Left fielder Rene Zayas ended the frame with a rocket throw to get a runner heading for home. Brownsville Veterans’ defense settled down and made plays to help Capistran get out of the next two innings unscathed.
In the seventh, Capistran worked back from a leadoff walk to get two quick outs via fly balls. Center fielder Brandon Betancourt made a good read on a high fly ball and showed off his arm with a strong throw to third to keep the runner at second. But shortly after, a pickoff attempt went awry and a second low throw advanced the runner home to make it 4-0 in favor of the Eagles.
Acuna exited the game during the bottom of the seventh after throwing 6 1/3 hitless, scoreless innings and striking out 13 Chargers. Daylan Pena moved from first to the mound in relief.
“(Acuna) established his fast ball, and once he got them looking fast ball we got the changeup and the curveball going, and it gave us the chance to get in their heads a little bit,” Eagles coach Lee Yeager said. “I think he had them confused because he was mixing it up so well. He did a good job of commanding the strike zone, and that’s what really helped us tonight.”
Chargers first baseman Jason Villarreal recorded the only Brownsville Veterans hit of the night against Pena. A walk loaded the bases with two outs, and Betancourt sent a hard, sloping shot to right field. Eagles right fielder Reyes made a great read and snagged the ball on the warning track in the right corner of the park to end the game.
“That would’ve tied the ballgame up and we’ve got a guy that we didn’t expect to be in tonight, so obviously that’s a big catch for us,” Yeager said. “We had them backed up in a no-doubles situation, which helped him a little bit, and he went over and made the play. One thing we’re taking from this is those guys can swing the bat pretty well. They did a good job in the box. If we think they’re going to walk all over them, we’re crazy. We’re going to be ready to play Saturday.”
Brownsville Veterans will look to even out the series Saturday.
“We got Rene Sanchez coming on the bump in Game 2. He does a great job for us. We know he’s going to compete, we just have to play better defense. Hopefully we can just clean it up a little bit, put the ball in play and see if we can win a ballgame and get to Game 3,” Vera said.