BROWNSVILLE — The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers kept Edinburg Vela at bay for three innings, holding the SaberCats to just two hits and one run.
During the fourth, however, the SaberCats roared to life, scoring six runs to help take down the Chargers 7-3 during Game 1 of a best-of-three Class 5A bi-district matchup Friday at Chargers Stadium in Brownsville.
“I think the big thing tonight was watching these young men grow,” Edinburg Vela head coach Jaime Perez said. “Game after game. Out after out. Inning after inning. I’ve watched these guys continue to grow as a club. Then our freshman pitcher (Santiago Montes), man, he’s growing up before our eyes big time.”
The Chargers entered the fourth inning holding a 3-1 lead. An RBI by Edinburg Vela sophomore Diego Rodríguez cut the SaberCats’ deficit to one with no outs.
Moments later, junior AJ Reyes delivered a line drive to left field, bringing in two runs to give Vela its first lead.
Our Lady of the Lake signee Jake Dufner kept the scoring party going, hitting a shot deep into center field moments later to bring in three more runs and make it 7-3.
“I think we showed a lot of discipline at the plate during the fourth,” Perez said. “They were nibbling a little bit. They were throwing some breaking balls early in the count, then they tried to come back with some fastballs. We lost some guys after getting hit by a pitch, but the way this team is built, it is next man up. They came up huge for us today.”
The Chargers jumped on several errors by the SaberCats early, scoring one run during each of the first three innings to take a 3-1 lead.
After a six-run barrage by the SaberCats, Brownsville Veterans mounted its comeback attempt during the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with just one out.
The SaberCats responded with back-to-back outs to leave the tying runs stranded.
Brownsville Veterans had one last chance for the comeback during the bottom of the seventh, but three quick outs by the SaberCats sealed the Chargers’ fate.
“The biggest difference after the start is that the kids calmed down,” Perez said. “We don’t have a lot of playoff experience in this group. We have maybe three of our guys with experience. I think the lights were a little big early, but we got them in here and calmed them down. Sometimes as a coach you start barking a little bit, and that can make things worse. I told my staff we can’t bark too much, and we had to give them some confidence. It could be tough on them, mentally especially. With the lights and the big crowd, I think the kids handled the situation well.”
The victory gives the SaberCats a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. The series continues with Game 2 at 2 p.m. today at Edinburg Economedes. Game 3 is set to follow 30 minutes after Game 2 if necessary.
“Brownsville Vets last year lost to Sharyland in Game 1 then went to Sharyland and beat them twice,” Perez said. “That is what we told our kids tonight. That is a successful program over there, and they win a lot of games. We have to do our part and control how they attack us. We’re going to have to take some blows. It is a heavyweight fight. We just have to stay on our feet and stay together, and I think we’ll be OK.”