DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

EDINBURG — When he was in second grade, Jesse Pistokache signed his first contract.

“I told my kids you can be anything you want to be, you just have to be willing to outwork the other people,” said Duke, Jesse’s father. “If you commit that you’re going to go all out and all for it, I will have you sign this contract that says Dad will do everything in his part to put you in the right place at the right time, regardless of cost to family.

“That’s what I did. They signed it and I held them to it. They had to train, had to focus and had to meet certain grades.”

Pistokache chose to pledge his life to basketball, and Duke followed suit.

Born in McAllen and living in Mission all his life, Pistokache grew up through the Valley’s local basketball clubs, the Dallas and Houston AAU circuits and through three programs in high school — Sharyland High his freshman and junior years, Blair Academy (New Jersey) his sophomore year and Ferry Christian Academy (Georgia) his sophomore year.

It was the final stop that got him noticed and attracted the University of Richmond. On Wednesday, Pistokache, a 6-foot-3 point guard, signed a letter of intent to play at the NCAA Division I program that competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

“I had a lot more downs than ups, but if you don’t want it it’s not going to happen,” said Pistokache, who averaged 23.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists at Ferry Christian, playing for former Duke standout, first-round NBA draft pick and longtime mentor Roshown McLeod. “It has to be a burning desire. I’m extremely thankful. I just want to go out there and just take it. The work is just getting started from here.”

Initially, Pistokache had verbally committed to play for UNC-Charlotte. But after the school and coach Alan Major, who had taken two medical leaves of absence the past year, mutually agreed to part ways, Pistokache’s future as a 49er became cloudy.

“I had no idea what I was going to do,” Pistokache said. “I was so unsettled. And then Coach (McLeod) tells me, ‘But a couple of schools have opened up, and I think you’re going to go to Richmond. I think that’s the place.’”

Pistokache also received offers from Tennessee and Western Kentucky. But Richmond’s open, guard-oriented offense and the graduation of star player and senior point guard Kendall Anthony attracted Pistokache, who grew into his own as a lead guard under McLeod.

“This past senior season was the best basketball I’ve ever played,” Pistokache said. “For the first time, I had the opportunity where things were built around me and Coach put a lot of confidence in me. Being the guy to where all the pressure was on me, that really helped.”

Pistokache’s journey to DI basketball rivals that of J.J. Avila, the former McAllen High standout who played all four years of high school for the Bulldogs before starring collegiately at Navy and Colorado State.

“You compare how Jesse did it to how J.J. did it, it just shows there are more ways than one to get it done,” said Arnold Martinez, coach of AAU’s South Texas Hoopsters. “Jesse went out and left to get his chance. J.J. stayed here. There are two blueprints.

“At the end of the road, they both signed Division I basketball scholarships.”

For Duke, it only vindicated the contract. Like Pistokache was true to his word, Duke was true to his.

Duke recalled taking Jesse to tournaments out of town and having to wait in the car because he didn’t have the twenty dollars to pay the entry fee. He remembers having about $900 to use for two months of travel for Jesse’s tournaments, knowing that at least $400 of that would have to go toward gas.

“We went through things,” Duke said. “We had to sleep in the suburban countless nights. Dinner was bologna sandwiches. On the good nights, we’d have pizza or a tub of chicken. There were some house payments missed. For eight different springs and summers, I’ve had to do it.

“Sure, we would’ve liked to go on vacation. We would’ve liked to buy a new car. But it’s a contract.”

Their word was their bond, and a ticket to a future in basketball for Pistokache.

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

EDINBURG — When Edinburg Vela track and field coach Hernan Figueroa met Reagan Olguin two years ago as a sophomore, he saw a gifted runner who refused to push himself.

Olguin ran track, but only by definition. Then a sophomore, Olguin skipped practices. He wouldn’t run hard.

And Figueroa had no idea why.

“When I first got him, I thought he had no idea about what he could really do,” Figueroa said. “As time went by, he started seeing that. The better he got, the more he committed to it.

“It’s difficult to have a kid who does something well, and then to ask him to do it even better at a higher level. And now he doesn’t miss a single practice.”

It’s quite the turnaround. Once, Olguin couldn’t care less. Now, he couldn’t care more.

Olguin qualified for this week’s UIL Class 5A state track and field tournament in the 800-meter run and as a relay member for Vela’s 4×200 and 4×400. Olguin will not compete in the 4×200 to conserve energy for the 800, which he won first place at regionals earlier this month, setting a new meet record with a time of 1:53.12.

Olguin, who has the second-fastest seed time at state in the 800 and is .12 seconds back of first, credits Figueroa for getting him to Austin.

“He’s made me a better person,” Olguin said. “He’s the one who built me up. He got me straight.

“With him, it’s not about running. It’s about character. Me being able to run fast is all good, but he’s just trying to make me a better individual. He’s a great man.”

Olguin only started running the 800 meters halfway through this season, about five meets before regionals. Figueroa had always wanted him to try it.

It took some coaxing for Olguin, but once he started running it, he starred.

“I didn’t think I was going to go out there and do as well as I did, but I do know I had the tools,” Olguin said. “I put in all the hard work. I was confident. I’m stronger than most guys who run as fast as I do.”

Olguin was also part of Vela boys relay teams that dominated at regionals.

The SaberCats were the first Class 5A program from the Valley to win as a team. The 4×200 team consists of Tristan Flores, Olguin (who will not run the event and will be replaced by Michael Arguelles), Gabriel Jackson and Johnny Davila. The 4×400 team consists of Jackson, Isaac Arevalo, Davila and Olguin.

The regional meet was the first time the four runners on each relay had run together. Because of the academic ineligibility of one of the main runners, Arevalo was asked to step in for the 4×400, and in the 4×200 Flores was asked to fill in.

The night before regionals, Vela runners were up late determining who would run which leg. But they never lost confidence.

Figueroa’s coaching is built upon faith. His runners have bought in.

“Coach Fig just makes you do things you never think you can do,” Davila said. “I don’t know if we do things differently than other teams. But I do know we do things right.”

The SaberCats feel they have not peaked. The two weeks between regionals and state have only allowed them to keep getting better.

Earlier in the season, workouts were endurance-oriented to build up the respiratory system. Now they’re more focused on speed.

“We’re looking to make big improvements,” Davila said, “and I think we’re going to surprise people even more.”

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Thursday, May 14

Class 6A area

Game 1: Weslaco High at La Joya Palmview, 7:30 p.m.

Class 5A area

Roma vs. Castroville Medina Valley, at Veterans Field in Laredo, 7 p.m.

Game 1: Edinburg Vela vs. Victoria East, at Texas A&M-Kingsville, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, May 15

Class 6A area

Game 2: La Joya Palmview at Weslaco High, 7:30 p.m.

Game 1: Edinburg North vs. Laredo Alexander, at SA Southwest High School, 7:30 p.m.

Game 1: Brownsville Veterans Memorial vs. Laredo United, at Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi, 7:30 p.m.

Game 1: Edinburg High vs. Eagle Pass, at SA Blossom Complex, 7 p.m.

Class 5A area

Game 1: Calallen at Sharyland High, 7 p.m.

Game 1: Mission Veterans Memorial at Gregory-Portland, 7 p.m.

Class 4A area

Game 1: Hidalgo vs. Boerne, 7 p.m., at CC Tuloso-Midway High School

Saturday, May 16

Class 6A area

Game 3: La Joya Palmview at Weslaco High, 2 p.m.

Game 2: Edinburg North vs. Laredo Alexander, at SA Southwest High School, 2:30 p.m.; Game 3 30 minutes after Game 2 if necessary

Game 2: Brownsville Veterans Memorial vs. Laredo United, at Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi, 2 p.m.; Game 3 30 minutes after Game 2 if necessary

Game 2: Edinburg High vs. Eagle Pass, at SA Blossom Complex, 11 a.m.; Game 3 30 minutes after Game 2 if necessary

Class 5A bi-district

Game 2: Gregory-Portland at Mission Veterans Memorial, 1 p.m.; Game 3 30 minutes after Game 2 if necessary

Game 2: Edinburg Vela vs. Victoria East, at Texas A&M-Kingsville, 4 p.m.; Game 3 30 minutes after Game 2 if necessary

Game 2: Sharyland High at Calallen, 5 p.m.; Game 3 30 minutes after Game 2 if necessary

Class 4A area

Game 2: Hidalgo vs. Boerne, at CC Tuloso-Midway High School. 2 p.m.; Game 3 30 minutes after Game 2 if necessary

DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

MISSION — A gifted runner since he was in sixth grade, GJ Reyna thought he had it all figured out when he entered high school as a freshman four years ago.

He was going to do things his way, he told himself. The best way he knew.

It wasn’t long thereafter that Reyna understood that wouldn’t be the case. Not if he was to be successful.

“I learned to listen,” Reyna said. “When I was a freshman, I had a problem with that. It wasn’t until my sophomore year that I started listening to my coaches and I started to figure out that was the way to go. Just listening and paying attention really was big.”

It’s paid off for the Mission Veterans Memorial senior. Reyna is making his second consecutive trip to the UIL state track and field meet later this week. He qualified by winning the 3200-meter run with a time of 9:17.81 at regionals in San Antonio earlier this month.

“The coaches knew what they were talking about, and as we moved on you could see the difference in the workouts they had me do and my training,” Reyna said. “I was getting results.”

After making state as a third-place wild card qualifier last season, Reyna heads to Austin as a regional champ with a new tweak.

Before the District 31-5A meet earlier this season, Patriots coach David Longoria had Reyna go from a variation workout format to one that harped on different intervals and times for one distance.

That allowed racing to become more of a muscle memory for Reyna. The pace of the workouts was more intense than that for meets.

“It seems really simple, but it works well,” Reyna said.

It was a pleasant sight for Longoria.

“Physically, he’s the same guy. But it’s the mental part we were hoping to conquer,” Longoria said. “We wanted him to get over that hump of the threshold of fear. That’s when runners realize that it doesn’t matter what they think, the body will do. It will go.

“He found that and he embraced it.”

Though the workouts were more strenuous, the results were clear. Reyna won the district’s 3200 meter run and then prevailed again at regionals.

“It’s a tough thing for a 17-year-old or 18-year-old to find,” Longoria said of the “threshold of fear.” “We here at Vets have a pretty good group of distance runners, but only one survivor. And it has to deal with the maturity and the mental aspect that GJ has. There is a price to pay, and he is willing to pay it.”

After this week’s meet, Reyna will close a terrific high school cross country and track and field career. But he won’t be finished running. He will start competing for the University of Houston next fall.

Reyna still smiles when he thinks back on it all, from a cocky freshman to a humbled sophomore who realized running could be his ticket to a free college education if he kept his mind right.

“From there, it became a goal,” Reyna said. “That’s what I wanted to do, continue my career at the next level. Junior year, I got a little more serious, got a little closer to that goal. That’s when it became reality.

“Now I’m focused on just winning. I went into state last year just wanting to experience it, do my best and let the rest fall into place. This year I have more of a goal. We know exactly what we’re going to do. The goal is to get on that podium and medal.”

It can be assured Reyna will be ready for it all, willing to listen and do whatever it takes.

[email protected]

DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

EDINBURG — It was at the 2012 Class 5A regional tennis meet in San Antonio when Monica Gonzalez, then the coach at John Jay High School, first saw Andre Mercado.

Mercado, then a freshman at Edinburg High, left quite the impression on Gonzalez and other coaches in attendance.

“I was like, ‘Wow. This kid has got some talent,’” Gonzalez recalled. “Here was a freshman holding his own against top talent. He stood out to everybody.

“All the San Antonio coaches were like, ‘Hey, who is this kid? Where’s he from?’ And I was like, ‘He’s from my hometown!” Everyone was just so impressed. And all he’s done is developed and grown.”

Now Mercado and Gonzalez are on the same team at Edinburg Vela, the former the face of the latter’s blossoming program. Mercado switched to Edinburg Vela once it opened prior to the 2012-13 school year, and Gonzalez did as well. The Edinburg North alum left John Jay to lead SaberCats tennis.

It’s only fitting that Gonzalez now has a not-so-distant view to the grand finale of Mercado’s high school career. After years of heartbreak at regional play, Mercado qualified last month for the UIL Class 5A state tournament that starts Tuesday at Texas A&M University.

He won his true second boys singles match at regionals to earn the bid to College Station.

“Ever since my freshman year, I always wanted to make it to state,” Mercado said. “That was the goal. My first three years, I was always really close. I was right there. This year I just pushed even more.

“It was all of my focus. I think I learned that if you have a goal and you commit to it, at all costs, you can achieve it.”

It has been a process for Mercado and Gonzalez.

In 2012 and 2014, Mercado lost in the regional semifinals. In 2013, he was on the brink of qualifying for state, but lost his true second boys singles match in three sets.

Since that point, Mercado has worked harder to be calmer. He has finally reached a point where he lets the game come to him.

He saw that pay off during his true second match win last month.

“He was definitely a lot more patient,” Vela assistant coach Marc Ortega said. “He didn’t try and go for too much too early. He was consistent, he wasn’t trying to force a point. When the winners were there, he took it.

“The previous true second match, he tried to close it out too early. He’s calmed down a lot.”

While Mercado’s shot selection has improved considerably — no longer just a one-dimensional forehand player, he now has the skill to change pace, heights and spins on various shots — it’s his approach that has developed the most.

“I’ve been playing since I was 7, and it’s always been about keeping my composure out there,” Mercado said. “When I was younger, I hated to lose and I used to get frustrated. I’d get down on myself. But I’ve seen kids get mad and then they lose a match because of that. It consumes them. I’ve tried really hard to focus point by point, keep an even keel.”

He knows that mindset will help him at state.

“Every guy going to state is probably around the same level as me,” said Mercado, who will compete for NCAA Division II St. Edward’s University starting next fall. “It’s about the little things, keeping composure, staying focused. Whoever holds their nerves the best is will win.”

Gonzalez said she gets chills whenever talking about Mercado going to state. It’s a landmark for her third-year program.

Even better, she sees a player who is ready and confident. Exactly like the player she saw three years ago in San Antonio.

“I think he knows this is his last shot,” Gonzalez said. “He went into regionals ready. He was mentally prepared, he was confident.

“Like his freshman year, you could see this was someone who knew what he wanted and was going to do what it took to get there.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

SAN JUAN — Edinburg Vela’s first-year baseball coach Jaime Perez couldn’t sleep after Friday’s Game 1 rout of PSJA High in their Class 5A bi-district series.

Perez had been in this position before. Either the past would repeat itself, or he would create a new memory.

“Back in 2006, I was in the same situation as head coach at PSJA North High School, up 1-0 in a series against Sharyland,” Perez said. “And they came back, got us twice. All night long I was fighting sleep, trying to find a way to motivate my club for what was coming.”

So what happened Saturday, when the two teams lined the field again for Game 2?

“Everything,” Perez said, his smile widening. “Everything just fell into place.”

The SaberCats added to their storybook season, rallying from a three-run deficit to beat the Bears 7-4 and sweep the series at PSJA High.

The dagger was junior outfielder Elijah Reyna’s two-out, two-run blast to left in the sixth inning that broke a 4-4 tie.

“I was looking for a curveball, but the pitcher gave me a fastball, right down the middle,” Reyna said. “I took my chance and swung as hard as I could.”

Just a couple of weeks after securing the third-year program’s first playoff berth, Vela (15-8) claimed a bi-district championship with relative ease.

“This is a huge step forward,” junior infielder John Treviño said. “Not many third-year programs can say they have a bi-district championship. It’s big as far as laying the foundation. A lot of these guys have been with us since the first year of our program. We couldn’t be more excited.”

Errors and a surge of SaberCat hitting late doomed the Bears (16-6-2), who spent most of the later innings of Saturday’s tilt wearing the look of a stunned ballclub. PSJA High had three miscues.

Still, the Bears were in it until the final at-bat, when senior slugger Christian Sanchez, boasting a .472 average with two homers this season, approached the plate with bases loaded and two outs. But it was an anticlimactic ending as Sanchez eventually lined out to centerfield.

“Compete, compete, compete,” Vela’s freshman left-handed reliever Aaron Galvan said of the at-bat. “That’s all that was going through my mind. Compete and keep the ball low. The curveball came out, he swung early and it was a line drive. We got away with it.”

The SaberCats may have escaped with that, but they earned everything else. The Bears went ahead 3-0 in the third inning, two runs coming on passed balls, before Vela rallied.

Perez inserted Galvan into the game for starter J.P. Longoria with two outs in the third inning, a move that flummoxed PSJA High.

“We’ve had trouble with left-handed pitchers all year long,” PSJA High coach Marco Guajardo said. “Not only that, but he throws a lot slower. Against faster guys, we hit the ball a little better. We were trying to get as much as we could out of the first guy knowing (Perez) was going to bring in the lefty and keep us off balance.

“Our swings just slowed down.”

Perez knew teams have a hard time hitting curveballs from lefties. Once he saw Galvan notch strikeouts on a curveball, changeup and fastball, he knew he had something working.

“I just did my best to keep the ball down low,” said Galvan, who pitched 4.1 innings and allowed one run on three hits while striking out four and walking three. “The changeup worked well. The fastball away, two-seam moving way. It kept them swinging.”

From there, Vela rolled. The Bears had no answer for Galvan, and the SaberCats’ offense woke up.

Treviño’s two-out RBI double in the third started it off. Fabian Pedraza added another RBI double moments later.

RBI singles from Troy Treviño and Johnny Davila sandwiched a Kike Rubio RBI single for the Bears that stymied Vela momentum briefly.

But Reyna’s bomb gave it right back.

“I think we did a good job of keeping our heads up and not getting down,” Reyna said. “We stayed at an even keel.”

And perhaps that means fewer restless nights for Perez. At least, that is, until next week’s area round matchup against Victoria East.

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

MISSION— Since junior high, Mission Veterans Memorial senior Zoe Alaniz had watched his peers compete in sports.

He went to football and basketball games. He yearned to be the quarterback throwing the game-winning touchdown, or the point guard making the highlight-reel play.

But long before then, Alaniz had come to grips with his unfortunate reality. Alaniz was born with spina bifida, a spinal defect. He is paralyzed from the waist down.

“My situation wasn’t all that difficult,” Alaniz said. “I have all this support and love and affection that I get from family. That took my mind off it. Of course there are hard times, like when I first went into junior high and you get to play sports. I couldn’t do that. That’s when it hit me most.”

But late last spring, veteran Rio Grande Valley track and field coach Larry Howell was at the UIL state track and field meet, watching kids compete in the UIL’s newly created Paralympic track wheelchair division.

“That got my mind working,” Howell said. “Zoe was in my wife Kathy’s team leadership class, we gauged his interest, and here we are.

“He’s a great kid. I just wish he wasn’t a senior.”

Since then, Alaniz worked and practiced and worked some more in the shot put, and now he will be competing at the UIL state track and field meet next week in Austin. Alaniz qualified for state at the district meet in late March. He had to reach a mark of 7 feet. He obliterated that with a distance of 13 feet, 10 inches, which stands as his personal record.

Alaniz and Weslaco High’s Joe Solis, who also qualified for state next week in the 100-meter run, are the first Valley wheelchair athletes to participate in the new UIL event.

“It’s a great accomplishment, a wonderful opportunity that I’m getting,” Alaniz said. “Growing up with this, and not being able to compete in football or basketball like I wanted to, this was something I could compete in and enjoy.”

During meets, Alaniz uses a specially-designed chair that has a bar used for back-and-forth momentum when throwing.

“What I love is that he will try everything and anything,” Howell said. “He doesn’t mess around. I treat him like anybody else. I push him real hard. I don’t favor him.

“There is no easy way out. He’s a hard worker and he’s going to do well.”

Alaniz’s grandmother, Maria Esther Salinas, said the support for her grandson has been “unbelievable.”

“We were at a meet and one of the kids from Sharyland Pioneer said, ‘Zoe! If you accidentally fall off your wheelchair, just pretend you’re doing push-ups. We’ll be ready to catch you!’” said Salinas, a former coach in Mission, Kingsville and La Joya. “You see the kids compete and the reaction and I just hope and pray the Rio Grande Valley embraces it.”

There was a time when Salinas did not know if Alaniz would ever be able to compete athletically. Alaniz falls into a specific niche. He is physically disabled, yes, but has no mental deficits, so he does not qualify for Special Olympics.

Now Alaniz talks about getting an offer from a university that has wheelchair sports. His dream would be Texas A&M.

But if not, he has a solid backup plan to pursue. A law degree. All that coming after, he said, a state title.

“I’m excited, I’m confident, I’m nervous,” said Alaniz, who recently competed at the Texas Regional Paralympic Games in San Antonio and brought home gold medals in the shot put, discus and javelin. “But I’m going in there with one goal, and that’s to win. I want to win this more than ever. Having won all my medals, it would be a total waste if I don’t win state. I’m anxious to get there and bring a state title to the Valley.

“I feel like what I’m doing right now is a stepping stone for athletes like me in the future.”

[email protected]

RGVSPORTS.COM

Sharyland High’s baseball team struggled offensively for most of Friday’s Game 1 win against Edcouch-Elsa in their Class 5A bi-district series.

On Saturday, that wasn’t the issue.

Behind 18 hits, the Rattlers beat the Yellowjackets 13-7 at Edcouch-Elsa to sweep the series and set up an area round date next week versus Calallen.

“Today, we went up 3-0, they came back and tied it, and we had a big fifth inning where we pulled away,” Sharyland High coach Junior Martinez said.

Jorge Maldonado had three RBIs. Joe Ramirez had two RBIs, including a homer. Nick Benavidez and David Becerra added three hits apiece.

Lance Madden, the only Rattler with multiple hits in the Game 1 win, went 2-for-4.

Becerra got the Game 2 win on the mound, throwing 5 2/3 innings.

The Rattlers (21-3) will play a best-of-three series against Calallen and will flip Monday to see who hosts Game 1 on Friday.

Edcouch-Elsa finished its season 11-13.

CLASS 4A

GAME 2: HIDALGO 20, ORANGE GROVE 6: In Rio Grande City, the Pirates turned a 4-4 ballgame in the fourth inning into a 14-run rout by the sixth.

Hidalgo had 19 hits and went through the full lineup twice in the fourth through sixth innings. Dylan Dougherty went 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Oscar Noguera went 3-for-3 with four RBIs. Michael Alvarez went 3-for-5 with three RBIs.

In all, the Pirates had 17 RBIs.

“Our pitching struggled today a little bit,” said Hidalgo coach Karlos Carrasco, who removed starter Kike Mendoza in the fourth inning when Orange Grove tied the game. “But I was very impressed with our bats. They kept us alive. At the end of the day, the errors we had didn’t hurt us because our offense came through.”

Sophomore Raul Ortiz came on in relief to get the win. Ortiz had pitched just three times all season before Saturday, but Carrasco praised the underclassman’s effort.

The Pirates advance to play Boerne in next week’s area round, likely to be held in Corpus Christi.

RGVSPORTS.COM

They made it close, but the Hidalgo Pirates began the last leg toward a hopeful Class 4A state championship with a 7-6 win over Orange Grove in Game 1 of their bi-district series Friday in Rio Grande City.

“Our bats were strong,” Hidalgo coach Karlos Carrasco said. “They came alive and we finally put the ball in play. We had been struggling with it all year.”

Oscar Noguera pitched a complete game and allowed six hits. He also provided a three-run homer.

The Pirates led 7-1 most of the game and 7-3 entering the seventh before Orange Grove scrapped some runs together.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Carrasco said. “Defensively, we just couldn’t get out of that inning. We gave up three hits, some passed balls. We’ll be fine.”

CLASS 5A

MISSION VETERANS MEMORIAL 10, MERCEDES 5: At Mercedes, the Patriots put the clamps on a series sweep of the Tigers.

“We had a couple big innings and jumped out to a big lead early,” Mission Vets coach Casey Smith said. “That was big. We threw strikes and played defense.”

It was the first bi-district championship for Mission Vets’ program.

“That’s big,” Smith said. “We’ve had some bad luck where we’ve drawn Calallen a few times in the first round, so this is huge. We talk about winning championships, but we really just want to be as good as we can be. Let’s just play and see where the cards may fall.”

Cristian Ramos improved to 6-0.

The Patriots are 21-6 overall.

SHARYLAND HIGH 7, EDCOUCH-ELSA 1: The Rattlers broke a 1-1 tie by scoring six straight runs late to earn the Game 1 win of their bi-district series.

Game 2 is today at 2 p.m. at Edcouch-Elsa.

EDINBURG VELA 13, PSJA HIGH 3: At Edinburg, the SaberCats won their inaugural postseason game to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-3 series.

Arnie Salinas was the winning pitcher, holding the Bears to four hits. Ryan Rodriguez and John Trevino contributed homers for Vela. Rodriguez had three RBIs.

Game 2 is today in Pharr.

CLASS 6A

PSJA NORTH 9, BROWNSVILLE VETERANS MEMORIAL 2: At PSJA North, the Raiders pulled off an early upset of the state-ranked Chargers in Game 1 of their bi-district playoff series.

“The kids just played with so much confidence,” first-year Raiders coach Rene Soza said. “They had fun. It was a big win. This was the best we’ve played all year.”

Junior Matt Garza pitched a complete game and struck out six. He kept his fastball down and low.

The Raiders jumped on the Chargers early, and from there rolled.

“They put their heads down and it just didn’t work out for them,” Soza said. “I think they could have been overconfident. They played us earlier in the year when they run-ruled us.”

Game 2 is today in Brownsville.

“We can’t be overconfident,” Soza said. “We have to stay focused. We’re here to have fun. We have nothing to lose but play ball. That’s what we did tonight.”

EDINBURG HIGH 8, SAN BENITO 0: At Edinburg High, the Bobcats finished off a sweep of the Greyhounds to advance to the area round.

Junior John Gonzalez pitched a one-hit shutout. It was the Bobcats’ ninth shutout of the season.

“The hard part was coming off from the end of district,” Edinburg coach Robert Valdez said. “Last night, we were able to execute our game plan, bunt early and we made some baserunning mistakes because of the number of days off. We carried that momentum tonight, jumped on them early and put ourselves in nice position with a couple of base hits. I think that put some doubt in them.”

Valdez said his team was better composed Friday and had more quality at-bats.

“It’s been a different guy for us every night,” Valdez said. “And now that team chemistry has transcended into confidence.”

It’s the Bobcats’ first bi-district championship since 2012.

WESLACO HIGH 6, BROWNSVILLE HANNA 5: The Hanna Golden Eagles were down early, came back to take the lead but ultimately lost during the bottom of seventh inning as Weslaco High hit a walkoff double to win 6-5 and sweep the Class 6A best-of-three bi-district series Friday.

Hanna came back to tie the game at 3 and took a 4-3 lead during the third inning.

“We stopped the bleeding, we had three runs to tie it up,” Hanna coach Eddie Garcia said. “(Hanna pitcher) Alec Buitron calmed down and started hitting his spots.”

The Eagles and Panthers would trade runs over the next few innings until Weslaco High tied it at 5 during the bottom of the sixth.

After Hanna got two outs during the seventh, a Weslaco High player hit a triple and the next hitter followed with a double to give the Panthers the series sweep.

The Eagles had their chances, but didn’t take advantage.

“We left a lot of men on base, a lot of scoring opportunities,” Garcia said. “One hit here, one hit there, the same story (as Thursday). You have to make the most of those opportunities, they don’t come back.

“Their pitcher bent, but never broke. We had chances earlier in the game, but we couldn’t get over the hump.”

LAREDO UNITED 3, McALLEN HIGH 0: At Roma, United put the finishing touches on a sweep of the Bulldogs after it won Game 1 2-1 on Thursday in extra innings.

McHi finishes its season 16-8 overall.

LAREDO UNITED SOUTH 5, LA JOYA PALMVIEW 4, 8 INNINGS: At La Joya, United South rallied to take a 1-0 lead in the bi-district series.

Game 2 is today in Laredo.

EAGLE PASS 7, LA JOYA HIGH 6, 11 INNINGS: At La Joya, the Coyotes saw their season come to an end in a dramatic thriller at home.

The two teams went back and forth much of the night until the Eagles pulled away in the 11th.

La Joya High finishes its season 14-9.

CLASS 4A

ROBSTOWN 9, PORT ISABEL 1: Port Isabel took control and had a 1-0 lead, but a handful of mistakes allowed Robstown to come back and take Game 1 in the Class 4A best-of-three bi-district series Friday.

With the Tarpons leading by a run during the third inning, the Cotton Pickers took advantage of five straight errors by Port Isabel and on just one hit, scored seven runs to shift the momentum and went on to win in the first game of the series.

Game 2 is at 2 p.m. today at Port Isabel, followed by Game 3, if necessary, 30 minutes later.

Port Isabel coach Robert Holland said a lack of offense wasn’t the problem for his squad, it was the mistakes made while playing defense.

“(We) hit the ball, but they didn’t make mistakes and we did,” he said. “Somehow we just have to battle and see what happens (today).”

Despite the loss, the Tarpons felt the game could have played out differently without the errors.

“Aside from the mistakes, we can play with them,” Holland said. “(Today) we have to play with energy, love the game, stay focused and believe.”

DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

MISSION — Rene Ramirez’s quick-trigger swing during the seventh inning Thursday brought with it the winning runs for Roma’s 4-2 Class 5A bi-district play-off win against Brownsville Porter at Mission High. It also delivered a nice piece of history.

The junior right-fielder’s two-out, two-run single up the middle broke a 2-all tie and drove the Gladiators (11-13) past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in 11 appearances under coach Roque Cortinas. The Gladiators have not made the area round of the playoffs since 1994.

“I was thinking I need to make a hit,” Ramirez said of his dramatic at-bat. “If I didn’t, they could win. The pitch I hit, I knew I had to hit the ball. I couldn’t wait any longer.

“I had to put it in the outfield. It came, I hit it, and I just saw it go.”

Until that point, it had been an intense matchup. Each club’s offense was consistent putting the ball in play, and yet each club’s pitcher was consistent overcoming rough patches.

After Porter (17-6) courtesy runner Lupe Soto scored on a throwing error during the first inning, Roma responded with two runs in the fourth —an Alex Mascorro solo bomb to left center, his first of the year, and a Jon Michael Roberson two-out RBI single.

Porter tied the game in the fifth when Andy Flores scored on a groundout. Roberson, Roma’s sophomore ace, and Jose Perez, Porter’s senior ace, held steady until the seventh, when Ramirez came through in a methodical inning.

“Motivation drove us,” Ramirez said. “They won 13 straight games and we were the last team to get in (in District 31-5A). We want to get past the second round. They were in our way.”

After Roberson struck out to lead the seventh, the Gladiators went as follows: single, walk, flyout, single, Ramirez’s hit, walk, flyout. The inning forced Perez, who entered the game with an 8-1 record and 1.83 ERA, to throw a lot of pitches and he was eventually removed late in the frame.

“We wanted a pitch to hit,” Cortinas said. “We knew their pitcher was a little wild, so if we were patient and swung at strikes we could get something.”

Perez allowed 10 hits, struck out eight and walked five. Roma scouted him well. Cortinas said he had his players lay off Perez’s high fastballs and just let him throw.

“He doesn’t walk people like that, and I wanna say three of the four runs (surrendered) were guys he had walked,” Porter coach Bart Bickerton said of Perez. “He just doesn’t do that. He was a bit out of character tonight, but it’s tough for a bunch of kids who had never been to the playoffs before. Your first trip usually ends like this. It’s tough.”

But Porter did not lack chances. In the bottom of the seventh, with the bases loaded and two outs, the Cowboys struck out to end the threat. It was similar to the fifth inning, when Porter put two on with no outs before three Cowboys went down in succession.

“We had opportunities,” Bickerton said. “We had guys on third base plenty of times and the kid struck us out when he needed to.”

Roberson allowed six hits, struck out nine and walked four. Knowing most of Porter’s lineup consisted of inside hitters, he mostly threw outside, using a tough fastball that painted the corners.

“We played the way we’ve been playing all season long,” Roberson said. “I wasn’t expecting to lose at any point. I have too much confidence in myself and my team. They always push me to do my best, and my best is what I try and give them.”

For Cortinas, it was more than enough.

“It was exactly what we thought it’d be coming in,” Cortinas said. “It was going to be one of those games. I know the kind of team we have, and the district we play in prepared us to go against district champions.

“They were the home team, so we were worried that whoever was going to have the last at-bat would win it. But I knew if we could just score, we’d have a chance. And we did.”

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