DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

CORPUS CHRISTI — It was theirs, and then it wasn’t as one inning determined Hidalgo’s fate on Saturday.

Holding a two-run lead, Pirates senior ace Oscar Noguera surrendered four runs on five hits during the sixth inning and what had been a dominant Hidalgo offense through its undefeated postseason was nowhere to be found as El Campo rallied for a 5-3 win in the teams’ Class 4A regional final at Cabaniss Field.

The Pirates ended their season in the Elite 8 for the second straight year and finished 25-6-1. Each time they finished one game shy of making the state tournament.

“It finally caught up to us,” Hidalgo coach Karlos Carrasco said. “It was one bad inning. But that’s baseball. That’s just the way it is.”

Noguera, entering the game with a 13-1 record and 0.84 ERA, rolled through the first five innings before encountering trouble in the sixth, which El Campo (29-6) began with two singles, a three-run triple, a two-run double and a walk before recording its first out.

“I was just throwing fastballs and they were finding the gaps,” said Noguera, who faced 10 batters in the frame. “They got to me. I was feeling good, but they got the hits. They kept swinging and they kept finding the room.”

Noguera was more perplexed than fatigued. Rarely had an opponent solved Noguera on the mound, and he was determined to return the favor.

It never happened.

“I wanted this one so bad,” Noguera said. “I wasn’t going to come out. Knowing how close we came last year (a Game 3 loss to Sinton), I was going to leave it all out there. We just came up short.”

Noguera — who struck out eight, walked three and allowed 10 hits in seven innings — had surrendered just 43 hits and 10 earned runs in 83 innings this season. Because of that dependability, Carrasco only briefly considered removing his star pitcher.

“It crossed my mind,” Carrasco said. “But I talked to him and he said he was fine. He told me he was barely getting going. I trust him.

“He’s gone the length for us every game he’s pitched. He’s tough as nails and you can’t take that away from him.”

Noguera’s teammates certainly never lost faith.

“We were telling him to get his head up,” junior outfielder Daniel Espinoza said. “We’ve been down in games before in these playoffs and came back to win, and we were telling him that. Oscar’s our guy. We wouldn’t have wanted anyone else out there.”

After a two-run lead turned into a two-run deficit, the Pirates got something going to start their half of the sixth inning after Dylan Dougherty led off with a walk and Mike Alvarez followed with a single (ultimately Hidalgo’s final hit of the game).

But Alvarez was caught stealing, Allan Wilburn grounded out and Adrian Ruiz flew out to end the threat.

“It could have been a momentum-changer, but we still had the runner (Dougherty) at second base,” Carrasco said. “I told the kids before our turn at-bat, it would be one base at a time, one out at a time.

“The whole way, we felt we were just one hit away from opening the floodgates.”

A Pirates offense that averaged 9.1 runs in going 7-0 this postseason before Saturday was held to four hits, three of those coming in a three-run second inning that saw Hidalgo jump to a 3-0 lead behind Ruiz’s RBI single and Espinoza’s two-run double.

Hidalgo struck out only three times, but was not patient (three walks) and swung early and often.

“Four hits in a game, giving up five hits in an inning. That’s not us at all,” Carrasco said. “It’s not. We just didn’t take care of our opportunities.”

Hidalgo tried to become just the third Valley baseball team since 1980 to make it to the state tournament. These Pirates featured 10 seniors, many of whom have been part of 81 wins over the last three seasons.

While the seniors reminisced and enjoyed teammates’ company one last time after the game, the juniors and underclassmen soaked it in.

“We just have to stick together,” Espinoza said. “Everybody needs to remember this feeling. Everybody needs to work harder.

“This is not the way you want to end your season.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

HIDALGO — Don’t get too confident. Stick together. Play every pitch like it’s the last.

Hidalgo’s baseball team knows what it has to do going into its Class 4A regional final Saturday against El Campo at 2 p.m. at Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi. The Pirates (25-5-1) are in the Elite 8 for the second straight season, and losing to Sinton in the best-of-three series last year is recalled all too vividly.

“We have to play as a team, we have to work through the bad times,” junior infielder Mike Alvarez said. “Last season, (Sinton) got up on us, started scoring some runs and we just gave up. We have to stay on top.”

Hidalgo coach Karlos Carrasco saw the Sinton setback coming. He saw the Pirates outlast Kingsville King and La Vernia to earn a trip to the Elite 8. Those teams, Carrasco said, were better than Hidalgo, and “I knew it was going to catch up to us.”

“That team from last year got a little rattled,” Carrasco said. “The moment really got to them. They didn’t really understand or know the significance of the Sweet 16 or the Elite 8, and in a way that was good but it can also work against you.

“As we went through, they started getting pumped up, being one game from state. We were ready, but we were just so young.”

Carrasco and every Pirate coach and player all say that this year’s Pirates are not the same team. There are 10 seniors on the club, and each one has made sure the team has played with a purpose this season.

That means every rep taken during practice is done at game-speed. That means taking advantage of mistakes gifted by the opponent. More importantly, it’s meant a 7-0 spree through these playoffs, with Hidalgo outscoring opponents by 4.2 runs per game.

“Last year was an amazing feeling, being the first Hidalgo baseball team to go to the Elite 8,” said senior ace Oscar Noguera, who carries his 13-1 record and 0.84 ERA into today’s game. “The difference between last year and this year is we’re seniors now. This is our last ride.

“We know how it feels to lose the Elite 8. We don’t want that to happen again.”

Carrasco didn’t need this sterling playoff performance as proof of Noguera’s words. He saw it during a district game against La Feria that Hidalgo won in extra innings.

“Mike (Alvarez) got hurt, I had to bring in Oscar, who was pitching the next game, a big one against Zapata … I was a mess,” Carrasco said. “I was just thrown off.”

His team wasn’t. Even when La Feria loaded the bases late, Noguera pitched the Pirates out of it. Hidalgo held on for a nice win against a playoff-caliber foe.

“Those are the little things that you could tell what we had,” Carrasco said. “The kids know all it takes is one hit. One inning. It’s been contagious. They feed off each other. And now we’re back in the final eight and they’re not rattled. Not at all.”

Carrasco likes his team’s chances Saturday. He won’t brag about it, but he has a comfort of certainty going into this regional final that he didn’t have going into last year’s. It’s a feeling players boast as well.

“Every ground ball we play has to be like our last ground ball,” sophomore infielder Dylan Dougherty said. “I think we’ve done a good job of that pretty much all season. We don’t let our guard down. We have a stronger focus.”

It’s a one-game series and anything can happen. But Carrasco likes that his team will be rested. He likes its maturity. And he likes the way the Pirates have been playing, buoyed by Noguera and a dominant offense averaging 9.1 runs.

Last year, playing Game 2 against Sinton after winning Game 1, the Pirates fell behind early and never got back. The bats went cold. The defense stalled. The pitching withered.

Sinton rallied to win Games 2 and 3 and stun Hidalgo.

“This is not that group,” Carrasco said. “This is a team always ready for the next play. It’s what this team is, and I feel more confident going into this series than I did last year’s.

“I think Sinton was a team last year like we are today.”

If Carrasco is to be proven right, the Pirates will be just the third Valley baseball team, and first from the Upper Valley, since 1980 to make it to the state tournament.

“Since the beginning of this season, we knew we could get back here,” Noguera said. “I know what my teammates are made of. We’ve all been playing together since we were kids.

“We know what we’ve got, and we’re ready.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

HIDALGO — In an ideal world, Allan Wilburn would be batting cleanup and No. 2 in the pitching rotation this season for Hidalgo’s baseball team.

That was Wilburn’s role as a sophomore for last season’s Pirates that went to the Elite 8. But this time around, as Hidalgo (25-5-1) returns to the Elite 8 and heads to Corpus Christi for its Class 5A regional final against El Campo on Saturday, Wilburn’s role is different.

After suffering two injuries during the season — a tweak of his shoulder during a long-toss exercise in the offseason and a hamstring injury that happened during the second round of district play — Wilburn has had to work his way back into himself.

It has not been easy.

“Last year, we were one game from going to state and I played a big role in that,” Wilburn said. “Then I get hurt and I felt like I wasn’t the same.

“It’s not a good feeling when you’re hurt, when you’re not playing as well as you did the year before. I started thinking I might never get healthy.”

The frustration was evident in the junior outfielder. Wilburn was fantastic last season, batting .440 with 38 RBIs and 27 walks and going 9-1 on the mound with a 2.21 ERA and 69 strikeouts to 20 walks.

But in recovering from upper and lower body injuries, Wilburn has not looked the same. This season, he is hitting .303 with 14 RBIs. He has only pitched in two games, throwing a combined six innings, striking out nine and not allowing an earned run.

Hidalgo coach Karlos Carrasco watched Wilburn carefully to make sure the dismay didn’t mount. He slid Wilburn to No. 6 in the lineup so he’d see more fastballs and get his confidence up. He also pitched Wilburn in a couple of games to ease his anxiety.

Carrasco communicated early and often with Wilburn, letting him know, step by step, how the coaches were going to handle Wilburn’s recovery and why.

“Coach has always been there for me. He’s always asking about me,” Wilburn said. “I know he cares. He knows I want to do whatever it takes to help this team, and I know he will do what it takes to help me do that.”

Carrasco’s care of Wilburn during an adversarial time paid off.

“All season long, he’d never been the same,” Carrasco said. “He wasn’t the same Allan we had last year. Until now. Now he’s the guy we know.”

Wilburn has been steady in the playoffs. He has a .392 on-base percentage and has only struck out once in 28 plate appearances. Defensively, he’s been solid.

There is no question Wilburn, who said he feels at 80-90 percent full health, is ready to pitch. Carrasco has used ace Oscar Noguera, No. 3 pitcher Kike Mendoza in the No. 2 role and sophomore Raul Ortiz as the No. 3 during this postseason in which the Pirates are 7-0.

“He’s ready to go,” Carrasco said of Wilburn pitching. “He tells me he’s ready. But for his safety, I don’t want him to get hurt again. We’ve been doing so well, I tell him, hey, as long as his bat’s alive.

“If I need him, I’ll use him. I’m sure there will come a time as we get later in the playoffs where we’ll need to put in a lefty to show something different.”

There will be no rush to do so. Odds are Wilburn will be Hidalgo’s ace next season, so Carrasco will continue to be careful with how and when he uses him.

It’s a plan Wilburn has accepted.

“I knew we had an opportunity to do great things this year and I wanted to be a part of that,” Wilburn said. “Last year, it was so exciting because we made history as the first Hidalgo team to go to the Elite 8. We were nervous. This year, there’s been a lot of things in our way. It seems it’s been a more difficult journey.

“But, here we are again.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

HIDALGO — The purpose of Hidalgo’s offense this postseason is simple.

Get on top of the game.

It was around this time last year Hidalgo fell to Sinton in three games in the regional finals. Now, in the Elite 8 for the second straight season, the Pirates have learned from the ouster.

“Our whole mentality has been to get on top,” junior infielder Mike Alvarez said. “That means being aggressive, scoring first and often, and making sure teams are chasing us. We learned last year in the Elite 8. Once they started scoring and getting ahead, we just kind of gave up. It got to us.

“Now we want to be the ones getting ahead, and so far we have.”

The Pirates (25-5-1) have fed off a dominant offense these playoffs, going 7-0 heading into Saturday’s Class 4A regional final against El Campo at Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi. That offense has fed off the power of Alvarez and senior Adrian Ruiz.

Alvarez is hitting .500 in the playoffs with eight RBIs and two doubles. For the season, he is hitting .558 with 28 RBIs and nine doubles.

“Mike’s probably our most consistent hitter,” Hidalgo coach Karlos Carrasco said. “He sees the ball well. He makes real good contact. He’s a good fastball hitter; I haven’t seen a fastball ever blow by him. He’s disciplined, has good hands, good hips. He just has it all.”

But the real surprise was Ruiz. Ruiz struggled during the regular season, with only seven hits. He never got into a rhythm — an elbow injury suffered during a preseason tournament in Corpus Christi kept him out a month.

Even when he returned, it still took awhile for Ruiz to find his stroke.

“He struggled badly early,” Carrasco said. “He was batting under .200 … this was a guy that was my (designated hitter) last year. I knew it wasn’t him.”

But Ruiz has drastically turned the corner during the playoffs. After hitting .104 during the regular season, he is hitting .500 in the postseason, along with seven RBIs, four walks and two homers.

“I had to work at it,” Ruiz said. “I worked hard and I’m alright now. It’s been about practice, better focus, waiting for the right pitch. Before, I would swing at bad pitches. I was very hesitant. I’ve gotten away from that.”

Ruiz’s breakout game was Game 1 of the bi-district series against Orange Grove. He followed a two-run double with a hard shot that snapped off the outfield wall.

“I went up to him at practice the next week like, ‘Where was that at all this time?’ He said ‘I don’t know, Coach,’” Carrasco said. “That’s all he would say. But I guess that’s all he needed. He’s been unstoppable since.”

What Alvarez and Ruiz have done is anchor the bottom of Hidalgo’s lineup.

Alvarez hits fifth and Ruiz hits seventh. Ruiz focuses on taking outside pitches when getting his 500 cuts in the cages during practice, and Alvarez works on inside pitches.

“I don’t like striking out,” Alvarez said. “The reason I’m good is because of practice. I work hard and I take a lot of swings. I’ll do whatever I can for a base hit.

“Just put the ball in play and force teams to make mistakes.”

Alvarez and Ruiz each missed considerable time during the season. Aside from Ruiz’s hiatus, Alvarez took five district games to recover from a rotator cuff injury.

It’s no coincidence, then, that Hidalgo’s offense, averaging 9.1 runs during the playoffs, is taking off just as the duo is finally getting comfortable and healthy.

“When they come up in the lineup, at that point teams think they’re already finished with our best batters,” Carrasco said with a grin. “Their confidence is sky high because of their hitting.”

Carrasco talks often about teams peaking at the right time. That was the case for his Pirates each of the last two years, and it seems the case again this season.

The “hot bats,” as the players reference during practices, are the biggest difference between the Pirates of last year and this year.

“Hitting is contagious,” Ruiz said. “You see one guy get a hit, and the next guy wants to get one too. No one wants to be a rally killer.

“You just want to keep it going, and that just brings your confidence up.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

SAN ANTONIO — In discussing his team’s surging offense earlier this week, Hidalgo baseball coach Karlos Carrasco did not mince words.

“We’re rolling,” Carrasco said, “and it’s going to be hard to stop us.”

Yup.

The Pirates rolled right past Freeport Brazosport 13-7 in Game 2 of their Class 4A regional semifinals on Saturday at Dickson Stadium, sweeping their way into the Elite 8 for the second straight year.

Hidalgo (25-5-1) had 13 hits and walked seven times. The Pirates struck out just twice in 43 at-bats.

“It’s just practice. A lot of practice,” said infielder Mike Alvarez, who went 5-for-5 with two RBIs. “We’re working. We can’t be stopped right now.”

It’s been a clinic all postseason for Hidalgo, which improved to 7-0 in the playoffs and has outscored opponents 64-34. It was in full force on Saturday.

Up and down the lineup, the Pirates were relentlessly disciplined. They worked deep into the count. They only swung at good pitches. They forced Brazosport to go to its bullpen early, as the Exporters removed starter Mike Traylor after just two innings.

Leading 4-1, the Pirates put the game to bed in the fifth inning, scoring nine runs aided by five hits and three Exporter errors. Hidalgo scored two of those runs off errors, another off a wild pitch and capped the 12 at-bat frame with a three-run bomb by Adrian Ruiz.

“They threw a bunch of fastballs,” said Ruiz, who went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and an intentional walk. “The curveball wasn’t there for them at all. They were just dropping to the floor, and we’re a team that takes advantage of fastballs.”

The Pirates’ only mistake? Failing to prevent the Exporters from scoring more than two runs in the bottom of the fifth to earn a run-rule decision.

Instead, Brazosport avoided that dishonor, and because of that the game ran into a rain delay that lasted 2 hours, 45 minutes.

It merely prolonged the inevitable.

“We could’ve been halfway home by now,” Alvarez joked. “But it is what it is. We stayed focused and we got the job done.”

In the playoffs, the Pirates are averaging 9.1 runs.

“Hitting is a contagious thing with this team right now, and they feed off each other,” Carrasco said. “Once one gets going, it’s hard to stop all nine, man. It’s crazy.”

Hidalgo starter Kike Mendoza threw four innings and surrendered four runs on seven hits. It was his control early that kept the Exporters at bay.

Mendoza threw only 23 pitches through the first three innings before being relieved in the bottom of the fifth by sophomore Raul Ortiz.

The Exporters made it closer than it should have been with six runs combined in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, but Ortiz got a clutch strikeout of Travis Simmons on three straight strikes to end the game.

“To be the first team in Hidalgo history to go to the Elite 8, and now repeating that? It’s amazing,” senior Oscar Noguera said. “It’s amazing. I’m just so proud of it all.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

CALALLEN — Facing its fifth elimination game of these playoffs on Friday, Mission Veterans Memorial’s baseball team never wavered. Never looked down.

That’s easy to do when a talent like Noel Vela takes the mound.

The sophomore left-hander pitched a complete game and allowed three runs on four hits while striking out 12 and walking eight in lifting the Patriots to a 6-3 win in Game 2 of their Class 5A regional semifinals at Calallen.

The win evened the best-of-three series after Georgetown took Game 1 13-1 on Thursday. Game 3 is at 11 a.m. today at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.

The Patriots improved to 5-0 in elimination games this postseason. Vela has pitched in three of them.
“These games are intense, for sure,” said Vela, who improved to 11-2. “But they’re fun. It’s cool.
“Being given that trust to pitch these games, I love it.”

The Patriots (27-9) jumped on the Eagles (23-11) early, scoring five runs in the first two innings to take an early 5-0 lead. By the second inning, Mission Vets had surpassed Game 1’s hit total of two, finishing with seven, and forced the Eagles to go two deep into their bullpen.

The Patriots scored four of the runs in the second inning, three coming via walks.

“We took advantage of strikes in the zone,” outfielder Ruben Cavazos said. “We know their pitchers like to throw a lot of first-pitch strikes and let their defense play, so we capitalized. We swung early and we executed.”

From there, Vela did the rest. With his two-seam fastball in top shape, he painted the corners nicely. The Eagles only got to him in the fifth inning, when they scored three runs and Vela walked four hitters, but otherwise hardly threatened.

“That’s Noel,” Mission Vets coach Casey Smith said. “That’s been Noel all year long. He guts it out. He’s improved on his control, which has made him more effective. It’s still something he can work on, but he battles out very well.”

Vela admitted he began tiring in the fifth inning. But the stakes and responsibility, he said, pushed him through.

“Yeah, I was pretty tired,” he said. “I got behind a lot in the count and started walking people. I had to stay positive and make good pitches.”

Smith said the Patriots did nothing differently in Game 2 than Game 1, other than play harder. His players agreed.

“We came out with a lot of fire, a lot of intensity,” Cavazos said. “(Game 1), we made a couple mistakes early and we just let it get the best of us. Every game’s a new day, we’ve been in this situation before, and we just played our hearts out.”

And now looms another Game 3, another opportunity to add another chapter to a storybook season for the Patriots.

“We’re pretty confident,” Vela said. “We’ve been here before. We know we have a chance, and that’s big for any team.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

MISSION —Midway through his collegiate athletic career in the late ’80’s and early ’90’s, Rene Guillen Sr. transferred from the University of Texas-San Antonio to UTPA.

It made a difference when the Brownsville native returned home to the Valley to finish his running career.

“You could tell with my times, I was just more comfortable,” Rene Sr. said. “That’s the big thing. Comfort.”

Now his son Rene Jr. is following in his footsteps, but with a head start. The Sharyland High senior standout signed a letter of intent Wednesday to run cross country and track for UTRGV next fall.

“Running collegiately was always a goal. I always had that in the back of my mind,” Rene Jr. said. “My father was a runner, so it was always in me. When I was little, I demonstrated some running talent, so I just went with it.”

Rene Jr. was a district champ and state qualifier in cross country this season for the Rattlers. He finished seventh overall in Class 5A at the state meet. In track and field, he was a district champ in the 1600-meter run and was a regional qualifier.

He had no shortage of schools pursuing his talent, but he also knew exactly where he was going to go.

“I was set on UTRGV,” Rene Jr. said. “I like that it’s here at home and I can focus on my academics. I hope to help give UTRGV a name and we’ll see how it goes.”

Rene Jr. said being comfortable is key. He liked the idea of being able to continue his career at home.

It’s something Rene Sr. eventually came to see, but it took a while longer. Rene Sr. is just happy that his son got it now.

“It’s a good opportunity to taste what the university life gives. It’s a great starting point,” Rene Sr. said. “If you want to eventually go off and leave after a while, good. Fine. It’s about being comfortable.

“UTRGV gives the chance for him to be close with the people who care about him while giving him a shot at doing what he loves.”

Though he introduced the sport of running to his son, Rene Sr. said he never forced it upon him.

“Running was in his heart,” Rene Sr. said.

Rene Jr. agreed. It was what running taught him that attracted him the most.

“The bottom line is you get out of it what you put in,” Rene Jr. said. “The sport teaches you discipline, self-control. It teaches a lot of life principles.

“It’s a really difficult sport. The last four years haven’t been easy, and it took a lot of faith and work.”

Now Rene Jr. can breathe easier. His mother Ruth said her son had been concerned about what lay ahead for him.

Indeed, as he signed his letter of intent, Rene Jr. looked relaxed and relieved.

“He’s following in his father’s steps. I know he’s happy now,” Ruth said. “He had been wondering what the next step was for him. Now he knows.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

MISSION — Eric Izaguirre was impatient as a kid.

He wanted to play. Morning, afternoon, or night, Izaguirre was always ready to do something, anything.

So it was when he was 7 years old that Izaguirre’s mother Leticia Herbert placed him in a soccer league.

“We wanted him to be calm, get his energy toward something productive,” Herbert said. “And now everything he does is about soccer. Since then, he’s had a vision, and his vision has been about soccer.”

That vision has led Izaguirre to Kentucky. The four-year Sharyland High letterman signed a letter of intent Wednesday to compete for the University of Louisville.

Izaguirre will play left-back or outside midfielder for the Cardinals and will be on an athletic scholarship. The scholarship will pay for 45 percent of his school and could be upgraded to a full ride dependent upon performance.

“I had scholarships to go play junior college or NCAA Division II, but I knew I could play Division I,” said Izaguirre, a team captain for the district champ Rattlers this season. “It’s been my dream since I was a freshman. I talk to guys like (Mission native and Major League Soccer player) Mikey Lopez and they tell me to keep going, don’t give up.”

It makes sense, then, that Izaguirre got impatient waiting for a college coach to call in pursuit of his services.

Last month, he emailed every university in the south that had a Division I soccer program. He stated his interest and included a tape of his high school highlights.

“Louisville responded and they really liked it,” Izaguirre said. “From there, they saw me play in the All-Star Showcase, they made an evaluation and they offered me. I was thrilled.”

Louisville assistant coach Kris Bertsch made the first contact with Izaguirre and watched him at the all-star game. After that, Izaguirre began to have consistent talks with Louisville head coach Ken Lolla.

“We tell the kids that they have to sell themselves,” Sharyland High assistant boys soccer coach Jorge Guerra said. “We have the videos out there, we have the games, and since last year he compiled his highlights and started making a tape to send out to people. He got it.”

Louisville liked Izaguirre’s speed, ability and work ethic. None of that came as a surprise.

“He’s a very self-motivated guy,” Guerra said. “Every day at practice, every day during games, he’s a leader, he’s motivating, he’s working. He puts in the time. His work ethic is something that really stands out about him.”

All throughout his career, Izaguirre has strived for a particular standard. And playing on the Rattlers’ 2012 state championship club as a freshman, he only pushed and pushed and pushed some more.

“The bar was set really high,” Izaguirre said. “And you just keep working. You put in the time, you learn to play with more of a conscience and you get better. When you learn to play the game, you learn you don’t have to run a lot. You know how important passing is and knowing where to be and when. That’s the biggest thing.

“You keep learning, keep getting better and you can go places.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

MISSION — Every day, Ruben Cavazos passes by the hole in the wall in his house.

And every day, the Mission Veterans Memorial senior is reminded of who he is and why he’s that way.

“I had a baseball bat and I was swinging it in the house and my mom kept telling me, ‘Ruben, don’t be swinging that bat. Don’t do it,’” Cavazos said of a particular episode when he was 7 years old. “And I didn’t listen, and that bat slipped out of my hands and made a hole in the wall.

“She disciplined me, and I may have gotten the other end of the whip, but that hole is still there and it reminds me every single day.”

Cavazos laughed when he recalled the story.

“I can remember hiding behind my drawer, hoping she wouldn’t come get me, but I learned at an early age to respect adults, my parents, my coaches, my teachers,” Cavazos said.

Largely because of that hole, Cavazos is revered by teammates, praised tirelessly by coaches and otherwise is just the ideal 18-year-old, as Patriots coach Casey Smith would tell it.

“We had a game earlier this season where we lost 4-0 to (Edinburg) Vela,” Smith said. “Ruben had applied to some Ivy League schools, but didn’t bother checking his email because he didn’t want to be distracted for the game.”

Later that night, Smith received a text message from his star outfielder. All his applications were turned down, he wrote. But he thanked Smith for pushing him to apply and “opening my eyes to something I’d had no clue about before.”

“This young man had just been told ‘no’ by colleges and he’s texting me, thanking me, saying this was going to be an experience that helps him in the future,” Smith said, shaking his head. “Just the perspective … to look at the bright side and be thankful for the experience, it’s unbelievable for an 18-year-old.”

Cavazos will be attending Texas A&M for engineering.

IN HIS APPROACH

Smith has been the head coach at Mission Vets the last six years and was an assistant coach at Sharyland High the previous six years.

He said he’s never had a leader like Cavazos, who is a big reason why the Patriots (26-8) are in the Class 5A regional semifinals for the first time, beginning with Game 1 at 8 p.m. Thursday versus Georgetown at Calallen.

“You watch him go about his business and the way he does things, you can learn from it,” Smith said. “He’s so mature. As an adult, I watch him go about things and see that I can do things differently. He really brings things to perspective.”

It’s not just Cavazos’ talent. In 32 games, he is hitting .385 with 15 RBIs, 27 runs scored and almost as many walks (11) as strikeouts (12).

It’s his demeanor.

“Ruben is a guy who lifts people up,” said junior Roly Niño, the Patriots’ team manager the last three years. “He has a vibe that’s contagious. He motivates us, he keeps us moving.

“He’s such a positive guy that you can’t help but have your spirits up when you’re around him.”

For Cavazos, the trick is in the approach. He’s always lending a positive word. He’s always seeking the teammate who he can help pick up.

Leticia and Ruben Cavazos raised their son to love and respect others. That applied to everything, including the baseball field.

“My job is to do the best I can and try and make anybody else better,” Cavazos said. “I remember as a freshman having Adrian Morales, Julian Fernandez … upperclassmen who held the team together and made sure the team was intact. I learned from them and did my best to carry that on.

“If you respect your teammates and play this game to the best of your ability, people will follow you.”

One of those followers is sophomore infielder Eddie Galvan.

“Ruben knows what to say and when to say it,” Galvan said. “He’s great when it comes to big situations. He doesn’t back down. Those situations can be scary for us younger guys, but he’s always there to carry us through it.”

DOING IT RIGHT

While his teammates pack up and prepare for home after an afternoon practice earlier this week, Cavazos is one of a few Patriots still on the field, picking up baseballs and helping move the batting cage.

It’s a scene that isn’t lost on Smith. It brings to mind their first encounter.

“He’s probably 110 pounds soaking wet as a freshman and we think he’ll be a JV kid,” Smith said. “He ends up starting in centerfield. He looked overmatched a lot, but found a way to get the job done and just had this presence about him.

“He’s always doing everything right all the time.”

Cavazos isn’t doing it for looks. He’s doing it because he savors the moments.

“Growing up, we all had our roles in the family household. It’s a sense of knowing you’re not entitled to everything,” Cavazos said. “Enjoy things while they last. Most of us are told at 18 years old that our baseball careers are over, and it’s the little things we’ll remember. Having to pick up in the cages after practice or whatever.

“One day we’re going to miss that. I’m just trying to make every moment count, every moment last, whether it’s during a game or a practice.”

It’s all a coach could ask for.

“Ruben is not going to tell you something and then not do it himself,” Smith said. “He’s here early, he leaves late, he cheers teammates, he helps pick up equipment after practice.

“Everything he does is leadership.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

EDINBURG — Edinburg High baseball coach Robert Valdez knew. His assistant coaches knew. The players knew.

It was hardly mentioned, however, and there was quite a bit of studying in an effort to figure out if what they knew really was. But since the start of fall workouts and into the scrimmages, non-district and district seasons, and now playoffs, the Bobcats knew.

“We knew we had a chance to be special,” Valdez said. “We just didn’t know how special we could be.”

The reason for that was pitching. Valdez knew he had a band of arms, from Texas Tech junior commit John Gonzalez to seniors Luis Ortega, Jaime Alvarado and Michael Castillo.

“They started to set their own goals, they started to push each other and lean on each other,” Valdez said. “It’s a culmination of their character and their drive to succeed.”

The quartet has led a Bobcats staff that has a 1.08 team ERA with 2.82 strikeouts per walk and just 28 earned runs in 182 innings. Gonzalez (9-0, 0.12 ERA) is the ace, with just one earned run in 57 innings, but Ortega, Alvarado and Castillo are stars in their own right. It was just last weekend that Ortega and Alvarado put the clamps on Laredo United in Game 2 of their regional quarterfinal to earn a sweep of the state-ranked Longhorns.

The reason Edinburg High (24-3-1) is in the fourth round of the playoffs for the first time since the 1956 Bobcats is because of pitching. How good is it? These Bobcats went 59 innings from the district season and into the playoffs without allowing an earned run.

“We talk every day about winning the pitch,” said Ortega, 5-1 with a 0.94 ERA. “That means throwing the right pitch and hitting the spot you’re told to.”

There is no secret to the Bobcats’ pitching success.

“What we do isn’t rocket science,” Valdez said. “We’ve begged, borrowed and stolen from others’ ideas. We do a lot of weight training, a lot of endurance running. We really challenge the mind and see how far we can push them. We want to see kids grow.”

Pitching coach David Kaz, in his 16th season, said calling it a “perfect storm” of talent would be appropriate. Over the years he has simplified his workouts.

“It just seems like it works,” Kaz said of making drills less complex. “It doesn’t matter who you put out there, it seems we’re always on the same page now. Everything is just clicking.”

Continuity is the primary reason for that. Gonzalez, Ortega, Alvarado and Castillo have pitched together the last three years, and the latter three have been together the last four.

Valdez, Kaz, and assistant coach Toby Gonzales have coached together the last seven years, and assistant coach Mike Soto has been with the program the last six.

“Since the beginning of the year, we’ve talked about our experience,” Valdez said. “It’s been some growing pains the last few years, not getting past that first round of the playoffs until this year, but it’s been a rejoice to see the benefits and reach these goals and see these kids really establish a brotherhood.”

A perfect example of that bond is Castillo. Castillo ate up most of the Bobcats’ innings in previous years, but in moving to catcher full-time this season he saw his pitching appearances limited (six).

But the pay-off is that he knows what pitch Kaz will call — sometimes before Kaz can even call it, the coach said — and understands pitching situations as well as anyone.

“We have so much chemistry on this team that it makes life a lot easier,” Castillo said. “We’re always together, we’re always pushing each other and we’re always talking about how we can get better. We all have the same mentality, and that’s to get outs.”

In the area playoff round against Eagle Pass, the Bobcats won Game 3 1-0 in eight innings. In Games 1 and 2 last week against Laredo United, Edinburg High pulled off wins in the seventh innings of each.

All three instances were set up by pitching.

“We don’t think two or three pitches ahead or two outs ahead,” Castillo said. “We’ve been told that since our freshman year. It was hard at first, because it’s not easy to think pitch by pitch; you always want to think about what’s coming. We have a real mature pitching staff right now.”

Great pitching and a defense that doesn’t make mistakes — the Bobcats have amassed 36 errors in 28 games and boast a .953 fielding percentage — can go a long way for confidence.

It allows the mindset that the Bobcats are never out of a series, let alone a game.

“We’ve been in fortunate situations to where our pitchers battle,” Valdez said. “They give us a chance. But by the same token, I don’t want this to be a false sense of confidence. There will be adversity, and that’s where the offseason mental challenges can benefit.

“This has been a plan that’s been in motion, and now they’re carrying it out.”

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