MISSION — Sharyland Pioneer completed the comeback in its Region IV-5A bi-district playoff series against Harlingen South with a 10-0 win in five innings in Game 3 on Saturday at Sharyland Pioneer High School.

The Hawks (21-11) defeated the Diamondbacks 6-4 in Game 1 on Thursday before the Diamondbacks (26-6-1) bounced back in Game 2 7-1 on Friday. Pioneer’s Game 3 victory gave them the series win 2-1 and a spot in the area round of the playoffs next week.

The Diamondbacks will face La Joya Palmview in Round 2.

Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks Bryan Ramos

“I’m extremely proud of these young men because they showed a lot of perseverance, showed a lot of character in bouncing back from Game 1 and dealing with adversity,” Pioneer head coach Adrian Leal said. “I told them the theme of the week would be ‘survive and advance’, and I didn’t know that it was going to come into fruition so quickly like it did in Game 1, but that was our theme for the week. That’s the only thing we had in our mind. (Harlingen South head coach Bryan) Augney does a heck of a job. He’s got a heck of a team over there and they play the right way and play with heart, so I want to tip my hat off to Coach Aughney and his group over there.”

Pioneer pitcher Isaac Lopez surrendered just two hits across five innings, striking out four.

Andy Chapa led the Diamondbacks offensively with a 3-for-3 day with three runs and two RBIs. Diego Chapa went 1-for-2 with three RBIs and Santiago Ortiz drove in two and scored twice on 1-for-2 hitting. David Benitez finished 2-for-4 with two runs.

Harlingen South finishes its season under first-year head coach Bryan Aughney 21-11 overall and with the program’s first playoff appearance since 2019.

“I really appreciate my guys. I love each and everyone of them and our two seniors that were everyday guys John Castellanos playing multiple positions for us and Desmond Cano in center field did an outstanding job,” Aughney said. “I just really appreciate our guys for coming in and being willing to do things different. We have a standard and expectation we want to practice with everyday and it’s got to continue and hopefully that’s the message to our young guys — we’re here to work our tails off and we want to get ourselves in that talk of making deep playoff runs because that’s what it’s all about.”

CLASS 6A

GAME 2 – BROWNSVILLE RIVERA 1, LA JOYA HIGH 0: At La Villa, the Raiders held off the Coyotes to earn a sweep in their Region IV-6A bi-district series Saturday at La Villa High School.

Brownsville Rivera Raiders Courtesy Photo

Rivera’s Nathan Alvear pitched a complete game shutout with seven strikeouts, four hits and three walks.

A home run by Andres Rocha during the fourth inning proved to be enough to secure the victory for the Raiders.

Brownsville Rivera (23-14) advances to the area round to face the winner of Eagle Pass and San Antonio Harlan.

CLASS 5A

GAME 2 – EDINBURG VELA 3, BROWNSVILLE VETERANS 1: At Edinburg, the SaberCats swept the Chargers to earn their place in the area round of the playoffs with a tight victory on Saturday at Edinburg Economedes High School.

Edinburg Vela SaberCats Courtesy Photo

Edinburg Vela pitcher Jake Dufner pitched a complete game with four strikeouts, seven hits, no walks and no earned runs.

The SaberCats struck first with an RBI single by Dufner during the bottom of the first. The Chargers evened the score with an RBI single by Juan Garcia during the top of the fourth.

Vela broke the 1-1 tie with a Justin Navarro run on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Jayden Martinez during the bottom of the fifth for the 3-1 final.

Edinburg Vela (23-10) will meet Corpus Christi Veterans (27-6-1) in the area round. Corpus Christi Veterans swept Roma 2-0 in their bi-district playoff series with wins of 10-0 and 2-1.

GAME 2 – LA JOYA PALMVIEW 3, CORPUS CHRISTI KING 2, 10 INNINGS: At Laredo, the Palmview Lobos won their Region IV-5A bi-district playoff series with a walk-off single by Mateo Garcia in the bottom of the 10th inning to qualify for next week’s area round.

La Joya Palmview Lobos Courtesy Photo

The Lobos won Game 1 9-5 on Friday and were locked in a battle against a King team with its back against the wall in Game 2.

Palmview (25-7) powered through, however, as Renzo Tamez and Josiah Gonzalez drove in one run each during the third and fourth innings for a 2-1 lead. King responded in the sixth and the two remained deadlocked until the 10th inning.

The Lobos loaded the bases with a single by Ezie Puente, an Anakin Robles bunt and an intentional walk of Joe Cerda. That set up Garcia to knock in the game-winning run with a single to left field.

Puente pitched 6.2 innings and held King to two runs off six hits and four walks, striking out six. Chris Perez pitched the final 3.1 innings and allowed just one hit with two strikeouts.

The Lobos are now headed to an area round playoff matchup against Sharyland Pioneer. Game details are to be determined.

GAME 3 – SHARYLAND HIGH 12, EDCOUCH-ELSA 6: At Edcouch, the Rattlers fought back from an early 5-1 deficit Saturday to push past the Yellow Jackets and win their Region IV-5A bi-district playoff series 2-1.

Sharyland High Rattlers Courtesy Photo

Sharyland High’s Diego Diaz hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning to break a 6-6 tie and give his Rattlers (23-5) the lead. The one-run advantage carried into the top of the seventh when Sharyland put up a five-spot with a Cole Gerlach RBI single, an Alejandro Islas two-run homer, a Fabrizio Salinas RBI single and another run on an error.

Sharyland High moves on to face Corpus Christi Carroll in the area round. The Carroll Tigers swept Rio Grande City in their bi-district series with wins of 10-0 and 12-6. Game details are to be determined.

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McALLEN — The McAllen Rowe Warriors faced a tall task in their Region IV-5A bi-district matchup — a one-game playoff against state-ranked Weslaco East, the District 32-5A champion.

The Warriors were unphased, however, and took down the Wildcats 7-0 on Saturday at McAllen Memorial High School to punch their ticket to the area round of the playoffs for the second season in a row.

McAllen Rowe (20-11) moves on to face Corpus Christi Ray (30-5) in the area round. Game details are to be determined.

“First off, hats off to Coach (Mike Brown) and his program over there. Those guys did a hell of a job this year and we wish them the best,” Rowe head coach Mike Segovia said. “As far as us, coming into this week, we knew the arm that was on the mound so we came up with a plan, an approach at the plate, and today, fortunately for us, the execution was there. The boys stuck to the plan and execution was almost flawless today. Hats off to the coaching staff and our boys, I’m really proud of those guys.”

Rowe’s Branden Leon went 4-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs to lead the Warriors offensively. Nathan Charles and Matthew Gonzalez also drove in one run each.

The Warriors threw two pitchers and both were equally effective. Ramiro Campos pitched 3.1 shutout innings, allowing five hits and one walk. Javier Garcia took over in the fourth inning and gave up just one hit and one walk, striking out seven across the final 3.2 innings.

“We worked hard for this. We were doubted early in the season because we started slow, but we came away with eight straight wins, practiced hard this week and came out with the win tonight,” Leon said.

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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).”

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MISSION — Sharyland Pioneer kept Harlingen South off the scoreboard for the first five innings Thursday night, but the sixth belonged to the Hawks.

South’s offense erupted with a five-run sixth inning to take down Pioneer 6-4 in Game 1 of their Region IV-5A bi-district playoff series Thursday at Sharyland Pioneer High School.

Game 2 is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Harlingen South High School. Game 3, if necessary, is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Sharyland Pioneer High School.

“Their guy did a really good job of keeping us off-balance and mixing his pitches. Our message to the guys was just to stick with it and find a way,” South head coach Bryan Aughney said. “We found a way to find some barrels and plate some runs in the sixth inning, and put a five-spot on the board.”

The Diamondbacks (25-6-1, 15-4) led 3-0 entering the sixth after an RBI groundout by Diego Chapa in the second and a two-run double by David Cavasos in the fourth.

Pioneer pitcher Ruben Lopez shut down the Hawks for the first five innings, but the Hawks loaded the bases during the sixth. An RBI single by Colby Martinez made it 3-1, then Matt Flores followed with a two-run double to left field. Diego Garza gave South (21-9, 14-5) the lead with a two-run single to center.

“This one took a lot of heart and dedication. This is our first playoff win in a long time, and I’m just proud of the boys and the way we competed,” Flores said. “After we were down 3-0, we came back and fought offensively and I couldn’t be more proud of these guys.”

“It was stressful. We were down in the beginning, but we had to come back and start a rally and we kept it going,” Castillo said.

Pioneer had the game-winning run at the plate with two outs during the seventh before an Ayden Medrano strikeout shut the door to give South a 1-0 series lead.

South’s Daniel Lopez finished 3-for-4 with one run. Flores drove in three on 2-for-3 hitting, and Castillo went 1-for-1 with two RBIs. Medrano struck out three in two innings to secure the win.

The Diamondbacks will look to bounce back in Game 2 on Friday.

“Baseball’s a tough game, and we hit some balls hard and it just happened to find where they’re at. They found some holes in the field where we weren’t,” Pioneer head coach Adrian Leal said. “Even when things like that happen, you have to power through. I think we showed some fight in the last inning, but I felt like when we were up 3-0, we took our foot off the gas pedal a little bit.

“That team is here for a reason, and you have to understand that each pitch, each inning is very important and you can’t let up at all. You got to win two games in the series and nobody has ever advanced in a best-of-three series with one win, so that’s our message to our guys, and I think they’ll regroup and get a chance to go over there and do the same thing they did to us and fight for another day to play on Saturday.”

*Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article stated David Castillo gave South the lead with a two-RBI single. Diego Garza was the correct batter who gave South the lead with a two-RBI single.

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District 30-5A baseball hasn’t fared well against its bi-district opposition from the Coastal Bend in recent years.

All four playoff qualifiers from 30-5A have been swept in the opening round of the postseason two years in a row battling against a loaded 29-5A that features the likes of Corpus Christi Veterans, Corpus Christi Ray and Corpus Christi Carroll — three teams ranked in Texas High School Baseball’s Class 5A top 25 rankings.

This year, La Joya Palmview and Rio Grande City tied for the 30-5A championship and are determined to break the trend by punching their tickets to the area round this weekend.

“District champs is a good thing, but at the end of the day our focus is the playoffs. We came up short last year, so that’s all this team is focused on,” Palmview senior third baseman Gael Gonzalez said.

The Lobos (23-7, 12-2) open with a three-game series against Corpus Christi King beginning at 7 p.m. Friday at Veterans Field in Laredo. Rio Grande City (22-8-2, 12-2) is matched up against Corpus Christi Carroll, with Game 1 scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at Rio Grande City High School.

FIRST-ROUND FIREWORKS

District 31-5A and 32-5A’s first-round playoff matchups deliver four Valley vs. Valley matchups.

Weslaco East (24-4, 16-2) captured its third consecutive District 32-5A title and enters the postseason as the district’s No. 1 seed. Its reward? A three-game series against McAllen Rowe, a team that reached Round 3 of the playoffs just last year.

The Warriors (20-11, 12-7) beat McAllen High on Monday to earn the No. 4 seed in 31-5A and are now set to face a Wildcats team determined to put together the program’s best postseason run in school history.

Edcouch-Elsa (17-11, 12-6) was one of two teams in 32-5A to defeat district champion Weslaco East in league play. The fourth-seeded Yellow Jackets will be up against the red-hot Sharyland High Rattlers (24-4, 16-2), who swept rival Pioneer to win the 31-5A championship during the final week of the regular season.

The No. 2 vs. No. 3 bi-district matchups pit solid teams against each other, teams that could easily go on playoff runs if they can get past their first-round opponent.

District 31-5A’s No. 2 seed Sharyland Pioneer (25-5-1, 14-4) spent the entire season ranked among the top Class 5A teams in the state before losing three games in a row late to miss out on the No. 1 seed. The Diamondbacks take on Harlingen South (20-9, 14-5) in a three-game series beginning at 7 p.m. tonight at Sharyland Pioneer High School in Mission.

District 32-5A’s No. 2, Brownsville Veterans (22-7, 15-4), and 31-5A’s No. 3 seed, Edinburg Vela (21-10, 14-4), also collide in a three-game series between RGV powerhouses. Game 1 between the Chargers and SaberCats is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Brownsville Veterans High School.

FOUR REGIONAL FINALS IN A ROW?

RGV high school baseball has been represented in the regional final round of the state playoffs in three consecutive seasons.

Sharyland Pioneer and Sharyland High did it in 2019, with the Diamondbacks topping the Rattlers to punch their ticket to state. The 2020 high school baseball season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Los Fresnos made it happen at the Class 6A level in 2021, and Sharyland Pioneer made its return to the regional final last year, falling short in Round 5 against Georgetown.

There are a handful of teams with the potential to make it four consecutive years for the RGV to have a team in the regional final round of the playoffs.

La Joya High (19-13, 9-1), Los Fresnos (25-6-1, 10-0) and PSJA High (21-7, 9-1) have been the area’s top Class 6A programs throughout the year. State-ranked 5A teams Sharyland High, Weslaco East and Sharyland Pioneer are likely favorites, but don’t be surprised if Brownsville Veterans, Edinburg Vela, Harlingen South and McAllen Rowe piece together deep playoff runs.

Meanwhile, 32-4A champion Hidalgo (16-8-1, 11-1) and 32-3A champ Lyford (20-7, 8-0) are entering the postseason with momentum on their side.

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MISSION — Sharyland High senior Mikaeli Nguma grew up with soccer as his main sport.

He began playing football during the third grade and immediately fell in love with playing wide receiver. Once junior high came around, however, his parents told him he could only play football if it was as a kicker and punter.

Nguma didn’t agree at first and sat out his seventh-grade season, focusing on soccer. Once eighth grade rolled around, Nguma felt he was missing out, so he joined the football team to play special teams.

After four years as the starting kicker and punter for the Sharyland Rattlers, Nguma signed to play college football at North Texas on Tuesday with his family, friends and coaches by his side.

North Texas is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision school located in Denton that competes in the American Athletic Conference.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time, and I’m just excited to get to work over there,” Nguma said.

He finishes his career at Sharyland as a four-time all-district player, a three-time all-area selection and a three-time all-state honoree.

Nguma, who goes by Kali, tallied 232 points throughout his four years kicking for the Rattlers. He recorded 64 touchbacks on kickoff, 19 of his 66 punts landed inside the 20-yard line, and he made 28 field goals and 125 extra points. His career long field goal is a 53-yarder during his junior season.

His impact on the game helped lead Sharyland to back-to-back district championships in 2021 and 2022.

“I’ve always kind of thought of it as Kali’s been the face of our special teams the last four years,” Sharyland head football coach Craig Krell said. “To lose him is going to hurt, but it’s great to see him move on to a program that’s going to utilize him and it’s exciting to see him grow.”

Nguma realized he could play college football after attending a Kohl’s Professional Football Kicking Camp as a sophomore. Kohl’s is a top resource for training camps and college exposure of high school kickers, punters and long snappers.

“I went to Kohl’s camp my sophomore year and realized how good everyone around the nation was. But even at my first camp, I ranked as the 36th punter in the nation and it made me realize I could play at the next level, so I’ve been pushing for it ever since then,” he said.

Nguma’s father, Mesika, was a soccer coach and saw a path early on for his son to become a kicker. The two would sneak onto football fields when Nguma was younger to practice kicking. The vision has now led to the opportunity to play for the North Texas Mean Green.

“They have top-tier coaches — the best of the best — and they made me feel at home. They treated me really kindly, the whole staff over there — the trainers, support staff, coaches, everything over there. It’s where I want to be the next four or five years,” Nguma said.

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McAllen High alum and former Texas Christian (TCU) receiver Gunnar Henderson received a 2023 Rookie Minicamp invite from the New Orleans Saints on Saturday following the 2023 NFL Draft.

Henderson was part of TCU’s national championship qualifying team that faced Georgia in the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship this past season.

Henderson carved out a role as a sure-handed, big-play receiver in TCU’s offense, which ranked No. 4 in the nation scoring 41.1 points per game, according to NCAA.com. He appeared in 14 games for TCU last season as a senior, recording 11 receptions for 223 yards and two touchdowns. He ranked No. 1 on the team in yards per reception among players with more than one catch at 20.27 yards.

Henderson had two catches for 12 yards and two tackles on special teams as a junior at TCU. He also earned Second-Team Academic All-Big 12 honors during his junior and senior seasons at TCU.

Henderson played his first two years of college football at Incarnate Word in San Antonio. He then walked on the Texas A&M football team prior to the 2020 season, but the COVID-19 pandemic led to the program releasing all walk-ons. He found a home at TCU and played the last two years of his college career, earning a scholarship in March 2022.

He played in 20 games as a freshman and sophomore at Incarnate Word and finished with nine receptions for 108 yards. He also played on special teams with three kickoff returns for 60 yards and five tackles.

ELSA — The Weslaco East Wildcats came through in the clutch for the second night in a row to take down PSJA North 6-4 in Game 2 of their best-of-three Region IV-5A bi-district playoff series Saturday at Edcouch-Elsa High School.

The Wildcats (19-9, 12-6) win the series 2-0 and are moving onto the area round of the Class 5A playoffs after defeating the Raiders (25-6-1, 16-2) by a score of 5-3 in Game 1 on Friday.

“Once we got our timing down, it’s time to start fully executing. Yesterday we used small ball — today we were kind of on their pitches already, we just needed to find the gaps at the right time with our baserunners on,” East head coach Victoria Vasquez said. “We have two seniors on this team, a lot of sophomores, two freshmen and a lot of juniors, and they’re all just working together. The seniors have been here three times before and they know what it takes to win these types of games.”

East trailed 4-2 entering the bottom of the sixth inning and tied the game off RBI singles from Desiree Herrera and Jaisy Caceres. With two outs and runners on second and third, Angie Herrera delivered a two-run single to center field to put the Wildcats in front for good 6-4.

“We just had to come back with our bats and we did that,” Angie Herrera said. “My mentality was base hit, base hit and just hit it in the outfield to get those two runners in and I did that.”

Freshman pitcher Kaylin Morales closed the show with two groundouts and a strikeout to end the game.

“I felt comfortable with the lead that we had and my team had my back throughout the whole game. I know we were down a little bit, but my team picked me up in the dugout and didn’t let me hold my head down,” Morales said.

Morales pitched a complete game with three strikeouts and zero earned runs. Angie Herrera finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

The Raiders pulled ahead early with a three-run second inning as Eileen Reyna hit a hard grounder down the third base line that was mishandled and rolled to the fence. The error allowed Jenisis Ibarra and Mandaly Ramirez to score from first and second and Reyna to come in for a 3-1 lead. PSJA North added another run during the top of the fourth on a Reyna single to left field as she scored on an error.

The Raiders finished with seven hits as a team led by two apiece from Ramirez and Alexa Garza.

Weslaco East now shifts its focus to a matchup against Corpus Christi Carroll in the area round next week. The Carroll Tigers swept Mission Veterans 2-0 in their bi-district playoff series. Second round details are to be determined.

“I just hope that we stay composed, stay focused and stay excited,” Vasquez said. “I told the girls a lot of teams have gone home after this round or didn’t make the postseason, but we get to enjoy the weekend, get back to work on Monday and get ready for another week of softball.”

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MISSION — The Sharyland High Rattlers scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning and let their defense and pitching take care of the rest to defeat the crosstown rival Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks 4-3 on Friday at Pioneer High School to win the District 31-5A championship outright.

The Rattlers improve to 24-4 overall and finish 16-2 in district competition. The Diamondbacks drop to 24-5-1 and end their district run 14-4.

“Both pitchers threw a hell of a game,” Sharyland head coach Austin Bickerton said. “I told (Pioneer pitcher) Ruben Lopez in the handshake line after the first game, ‘I know you’re going to be ready.’ He’s a competitor, and he showed it today. (Diego) Diaz, he hadn’t thrown too much, but he came in a big spot and worked his butt off all game.”

Pioneer struck first with a two-run home run by Dannel Marrero in the bottom of the first. Sharyland answered with a pair of runs off a single by Alejandro Islas and a sac fly from Homer Garcia during the top of the third.

The rivals carried the 2-2 tie into the seventh inning with Sharyland starting pitcher Diego Diaz and Pioneer starter Ruben Lopez locked in.

The Rattlers proceeded to load the bases during the top of the seventh with Ferny Hinojosa and Cole Gerlach singles and a walk by Diaz. Two passed balls allowed two runs to come across the plate for a 4-2 advantage.

Down to its last three outs, Pioneer put runners on second and third with no outs after a walk by Diego Chapa and a standup double by Isaac Lopez.

Diaz was pulled and moved to center field as Islas took over on the mound for the Rattlers. The first batter he faced singled to center field and one run scored, but the second runner was thrown out at home by a laser from Diaz to preserve the 4-3 lead. A groundout and strikeout from Islas ended the game.

“This game was all heart,” said Diaz, the UTSA baseball signee. “Everyone put their heart into this the whole season, and we’ve come a long way. We have a hell of a team and now we’re district champions.”

He struck out five and allowed four hits and three walks across in six innings. Cole Gerlach led the Rattlers offensively with a 3-for-4 day at the plate and two runs scored.

Pioneer’s Lopez allowed four runs off 10 hits and four walks. Marrero led the Diamondbacks with the two-run homer.

Sharyland High will be the No. 1 seed from 31-5A and will meet Edcouch-Elsa in the bi-district round. Sharyland Pioneer finished the regular season tied with Edinburg Vela with 14-4 district records. The Diamondbacks and SaberCats will head to a tiebreaker to determine the No. 2 and No. 3 seed.

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MISSION — The San Benito Greyhounds steamrolled Mission High 19-2 in five innings in Game 1 of their Region IV-6A best-of-three bi-district playoff series Thursday at Mission High School.

The Greyhounds, the third-ranked team in the state according to the latest Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 6A poll, scored 19 runs across the first four innings and finished with 17 hits, eight walks and 10 stolen bases.

“Right now, everybody’s trying to set the tone for down the line. Right now, we won the game, but Mission is a quality ball club and we’re fortunate that we were able to jump on them quick,” San Benito head coach Elias Martinez said. “They made a comeback at the end there, but it was very important for us to come out and make a statement and hopefully come back (today) and finish it.”

The Greyhounds (31-3, 10-0) plated three runs in the first and four more in the second before exploding for nine during the top of the third. Amira Rodriguez capped off the scoring for San Benito with a three-run home run during the fourth.

“It was just about finding your pitch and swinging as hard as you can to bring in some runs,” she said.

Rodriguez and Jozanna Montes combined for five hits and had four RBIs each. Kylie Sanchez scored a team-high four runs to go with two hits and three RBIs. Emily Delgado and Bethany Aguilar drove in two RBIs apiece. Leila Lopez and Elyssa Ruvio both tagged the Eagles for three hits.

Delgado pitched a complete game for San Benito and kept Mission off the board for the first four innings. She finished with seven strikeouts in five innings and allowed no earned runs.

The Eagles prevented the shutout with RBIs from Jaydah Fraire and Samantha Rodriguez in the fifth.

Game 2 of the best-of-three series is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday at San Benito High School. Game 3, if needed, will be played Saturday in San Benito at a time to be determined.

“This boosts our confidence and shows that we can go a long way in the playoffs,” Montes said.

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