HARLINGEN — It didn’t take long to find out how Sharyland Pioneer was going to respond to a 1-0 series deficit against Harlingen South in their Region IV-5A bi-district series.
The Diamondbacks scored two runs in the first and second innings and added another three during the fifth to take down the Hawks 7-1 in Game 2 on Friday and tie the best-of-three series at 1.
Game 3 between the Diamondbacks (26-6-1) and Hawks (21-10) is scheduled for 1 p.m. today at Sharyland Pioneer High School in Mission.
“I’m very impressed with the way my kids responded. It’s what I expected, but at the same time it’s rewarding to see them put it into action,” Pioneer head coach Adrian Leal said. “We’re not going to focus too much on this game. We’ll talk about the things we did well, the things we can fix — we’re getting out of here early, picking up something to eat and they’re all going to sleep because we got another game to win (today) and that’s our focus.”
In Game 1, a five-run sixth inning sunk Sharyland Pioneer. In Game 2 on Friday, the Hawks loaded the bases in the sixth and threatened to cut into the lead, but back-to-back strikeouts from Pioneer pitcher Rene Vela ended the inning. Vela threw a two-hitter with four walks, striking out seven in six innings.
“My job was to come in this game and not let the seniors down and dominate together. We played together and ended up with the ‘W,’” Vela said.
Santiago Ortiz and Dannel Marrero came through with RBIs in the top of the first for a 2-0 lead. Andy Chapa followed it up with a two-run double to push the lead to 4-0 after two.
Chapa reached safely on an error in the fifth and Ortiz singled to move him to second. Marrero picked up RBIs No. 2 and 3 with a two-run triple in the fifth, and Diego Dominguez brought him in with an infield bunt single to make it a 7-1 game.
Marrero said he was determined to bounce back after going hitless in Game 1.
“(On Thursday), I missed four at-bats, so my mindset in this game was staying on top of the ball, lining it and keeping the same momentum going for (today),” he said.
Harlingen South’s lone run came on an RBI double by John Castellanos in the third.
First-year South head coach Bryan Aughney, who was the head coach at Our Lady of the Lake in San Antonio last year, has a young squad playing in its second postseason game of the players’ high school careers. Their first was their 6-4 win Thursday.
“No. 1, hats off to their guy. He threw really well, challenged us with the fastball and for the majority of the game, beat us with the fastball,” Aughney said. “I thought we came out a little bit unsure. We don’t have a roster full of guys that have been in a position like this. For my entire roster, this is their second playoff game, but still the expectation is higher.”
“We just got to go compete. It’s seven innings, a lot can happen. You got to play it one pitch at a time, at go attack it. You got to be all in on (today). We have a good opponent, it should be a hot one, but we’ll be focused and compete our tails off (today).”