VALLEY-BASEBALL SCHEUDLE

Saturday’s Games

District 31-5A

Mission Veterans at Laredo Cigarroa, ppd.

Sharyland Pioneer 5, Laredo Nixon 4

Monday, Mar. 13

District 31-5A

Sharyland Pioneer at Mission Veterans, 2 p.m.

Roma at Sharyland High, 1 p.m.

Laredo Martin at Valley View, 6 p.m.

Laredo Cigarroa at Rio Grande City, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Mar. 14

District 30-6A

McAllen Memorial at Mission High, 7 p.m.

La Joya High at McAllen High, 7 p.m.

La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at La Joya Palmview, 7 p.m.

District 31-6A

Edinburg North at Edinburg Vela, 7 p.m.

Edinburg High at Edinburg Edonomedes, 7 p.m.

PSJA Memorial at PSJA North, 7 p.m.

PSJA High at PSJA Southwest, 7 p.m.

District 32-6A

Los Fresnos at Harlingen South, 7 p.m.

Harlingen High at Bronwsville Rivera, 5 p.m.

Bronwsville Hanna at Weslaco High, 8 p.m.

Weslaco East at San Benito, 7 p.m.

District 31-5A

Sharyland High at Laredo Martin, 7 p.m.

District 32-5A

Edcouch-Elsa at Donna High, 7 p.m.

Brownsville Lopez at Donna North, 7 p.m.

Mercedes at Brownsville Veterans, 7 p.m.

District 32-4A

Progresso at Hidalgo, 7:30 p.m.

Grulla at Zapata, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Mar. 15

District 31-5A

Mission Veterans at Laredo Nixon, 2 p.m.

Rio Grande City at Sharyland Pioneer, 4:30 p.m.

Sharyland High at Laredo Cigarroa, 2 p.m.

Valley View at Roma, 7 p.m.

Thursday, Mar. 16

District 32-6A

Los Fresnos at Weslaco East, 7 p.m.

Weslaco High at Harlingen High, 5 p.m.

District 32-5A

Brownsville Veterans at Edcouch-Elsa, 7 p.m.

Donna High at Brownsville Lopez 7 p.m.

Donna North at Brownsville Porter, 7 p.m.

VALLEY-BASEBALL BOX SCORE

Saturday’s Game

Non-District

SHARYLAND PIONEER 5, LAREDO NIXON 4

Laredo Nixon 000 040 00 — 4

Pioneer 001 000 31 — 5

WP: Not reported.

SAHRYLAND PIONEER (5) — Fernando Valdivia 3 hits, Johnny Lugo 2 hits.

RECORDS: Sharyland Pioneer 5-8

VALLEY-BASEBALL SCHEDULE

Tuesday’s Games

District 30-6A

La Joya Palmview 5, McAllen Memorial 1

La Joy High 8, Mission High 2

McAllen Rowe 3, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 1

District 32-6A

Weslaco High 7, Weslaco East 0

Harlingen High 4, Harlingen South 3, 10 innings

Los Fresnos 11, San Benito 2

District 31-5A

Misison Veterans 14, Roma 1

Laredo Cigarroa 3, Laredo Nixon 0

Valley View 6, Sharyland High 4

Rio Grande City 12, Laredo Martin 1

District 32-5A

Edcouch-Elsa 6, Donna North 3

Mercedes 3, Donna High 2

Brownsville Veterans 2, Brownsville Pace1

District 32-4A

Grulla 3, Hidalgo 2

BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER

GRULLA — Grulla senior pitcher Luis Martinez took the mound to open the District 32-4A season Tuesday and did what an opening night pitcher is supposed to do.

Martinez, a UTRGV commit, tossed 7 innings of three-hit ball to lead the Gators to a 3-2 win over Hidalgo.

“He’s our ace, and we are going to go with him,” Grulla coach Joel Ozuna Jr. said. “The defense helped him. They did what they had to do. He made them put the ball in play. There is no reason for us to doubt. The players believe in him, he believes in himself and he believes in his defense. That’s how we were able to get it done, just believing in ourselves.”

Martinez struck out nine and allowed two runs, both unearned.

Both runs came from errors by sophomore catcher Ruey Salinas. Salinas had several balls slip past him in his first varsity start behind the plate. Several injuries and graduations have forced Ozuna to play many new faces this season.

Salinas, though, was a key on offense, redeeming some of his mistakes with timely hitting.

In the bottom of the fourth, Salinas stepped into the batter’s box with two runners on and two outs. Salinas dug in and started to grind out the at-bat. Hidalgo pitcher Raul Ortiz threw pitch after pitch, but Salinas kept fouling them off. Finally, on the eighth pitch, Salinas hit a hot shot right at third base. The third baseman, Martin Cortez, was unable to react and was struck in the head with the ball. Cortez stayed down after the play and had to leave the game. Grulla scored on Salinas’ hit, but left the bases loaded to end the inning.

“(Salinas) fought off about seven or eight pitches,” Ozuna said. “He did what he had to do. He shortened up his swing and put the pressure on their defense to come out and have to make the out. Fortunately for us, it had a bad bounce and we took it from there.”

Hidalgo didn’t just lose Cortez. Starting pitcher Samuel Jimenez got rolling early, striking out four of the first six batters and allowing only one hit in the first two innings. But on the last pitch of warm-ups before the bottom of the third inning, he landed awkwardly and fell to the ground. He was in pain and had to leave the game.

“He was warming up and his knee buckled on his follow through,” Hidalgo coach Karlos Carrasco said. “That wasn’t good, but we had to adjust. Raul came in, and without complaining or anything, he warmed up, and he got in the game and he did a good job for us.”

Ortiz removed the catcher’s gear and came in to finish the game.

Hidalgo doesn’t play again until March 14, giving the team some time to treat and deal with the injuries sustained Tuesday.

For Grulla, this win is the start of what the Gators hope can be an exciting season.

“It’s good. It’s an accomplishment,” Martinez said. “It shows that hard work pays off. It puts us on top of the leaderboard and we are the team to beat now. … They are a good team, but we had the heart to win. We overcame our errors, shook it off and hit the ball well.”

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VALLEY-BASEBALL TOURNAMENT SCORES

Mission Classic

Friday’s Games

At Mission Veterans

Mission Veterans 16, Mission High 1, 5 innings

Edinburg High 4, Alice 1

Alamo Heights 7, Edinburg High 2

Mission Veterans 13, Alamo Heights 1, 5 innings

Alice 9, Mission High 0

Satruday’s Game

At Mission Veterans

Third-place game TBD, 10 a.m.

Championship game TBD, 12:30 p.m.

Mike Rodriguez Tournament

At PSJA High

McAllen Rowe 5, Progreso 2

PSJA High 9, Raymondville 1

Progreso 5, Raymondville 4

PSJA High 8, McAllen Rowe 2

At PSJA North

Rio Hondo 6, Brownsville Lopez 5

PSJA Memorial 5, Rio Hondo 3

PSJA North 6, Browsnville Lopez 2

PSJA Memorial 9, Sharyland High 3

PSJA North 2, Sharyland High 1

Saturday’s Games

At PSJA North

Third-Place game TBD, 3 p.m.

Championship game TBD, 5:20 p.m.

Tony Rico Tournament

Friday’s Games

McAllen High 3, Edcouch-Elsa 0

Morton Ranch 8, Sharyland Pioneer 0

Fort Bend Austin 9, Sharyland Pioneer 1

Edinburg Economedes 9, Weslaco East 3

Saturday’s Games

Third-place game TBD at Weslaco East, 3:30 p.m.

Championship game TBD at Weslaco High, 3:30 p.m.

VALLEY-BASEBALL TOURNAMENT SCORES AND SCHEDULE

Mike Rodriguez Tournament

At PSJA North

Rio Hondo 7, Brownsville Rivera 2

Brownsville Pace 2, PSJA North 1

McAllen Rowe 5, Brownsville Rivera 3

Brownsville Pace 5, Rio Hondo 1

PSJA North 4, McAllen Rowe 2

At PSJA Memorial

PSJA Memorial 15, Progreso 3

PSJA Memorial 3, Raymonville 1

PSJA Southwest 8, Raymondville 0

Progreso 9, PSJA Southwest 1

At PSJA High

PSJA High 10, Donna High 0

Sharyland High 9, Brownsville Lopez 3

Brownsville Lopez 13, Donna High 3

PSJA High 3, Sharyland High 2

Mission Tournament

At Mission Veterans

Edinburg High 8, Mission High 2

Mission Veterans 9, Edinburg High 4

Alice 10, Alamo Heights 1

Mission Veterans 10, Alice 1

Alamo Heights 8, Mission High 3

Tony Rico

At Weslaco

Weslaco High 3, McAllen Memorial 1

McAllen Memorial 10, Donna North 7

Weslaco High 3, Laredo LBJ 1

At Weslaco East

Edinburg Economedes 3, Brownsville Porter 2

Weslaco East 10, Brownsville Porter 3

Valley View 4, Edinburg Economedes 3

At Edcouch-Elsa

Harlingen High 8, Edcouch-Elsa 2

McAllen High 3, Harlingen High 1

McAllen High 7, Weslaco JV 1

VALLEY-BASEBALL SCHEDULE

Tuesday, Feb. 28

District 31-5A

Mission Veterans 10, Laredo Martin 0, 6 innings

Valley View 9, Rio Grande City 3

Laredo Cigarroa 7, Sharyland Pioneer 5

Roma 2, Laredo Nixon 0

Non-district

McAllen High 6, Brownsville Hanna 4

McAllen Memorial 5, Weslaco East 3

Thursday, March 2

Tony Rico Tournament, Weslaco

Mission Classic Tournament

La Joya Tournament

PSJA Tournament

San Antonio Tournament

Katy Tournament

VALLEY-BASEBALL BOX SCORES

District 31-5A

MISSION VETERANS 10, LAREDO MARTIN 0

Mission Veterans 000 073 — 10

Laedo Martin 000 000 — 0

WP: Noel Vela 6 innings, 1 hit, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk.

MISSION VETERANS (10): Roman De Leon 2-4, 2 runs; Noel Vela 1-3, 3 RBI; A.J. Rangel 1-1, 2 RBI; Alex Guajardo 1-2, 1 RBI, 2 runs.

LAREDO MARTIN (0): Not reported.

RECORDS: Mission Veterans 5-2, 1-0.

LAREDO CIGARROA 7, SHARYLAND PIONEER 5

Sharyland Pioneer 102 020 0 — 5

Laedo Cigarroa 013 120 0 — 7

WP: Braulio Bo Paez 6.1 innings, 5 strikeouts.

SHARYLAND PIONEER (5): Johnny Lugo 2 hits, 2 RBI; Evan Maldonado 2 RBI; Jacob Rosales 1 RBI.

LAREDO Cigarroa (7): Genaro Cardenas 3 hits; Brandon Martinez 2 hits; .

RECORDS: Sharyland Pioneer 2-4, 0-1.

VALLEY-BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

Tuesday, Feb. 28

Class 6A Regional Quarterfinals

Weslaco 60, Laredo United South 55

Laredo United 54, McAllen High 38

Class 5A Regional Quarterfinals

Laredo Martin 47, Brownsville Veterans 39

Class 3A Regional Quarterfinals

Santa Rosa 90, C.C. London 40

Friday, March 3

Class 6A Regional Semifinals

Weslaco vs. Austin Westlake at Laredo Energy Arena, 8 p.m.

Class 3A Regional Semifinals

Santa Rosa vs. Poth at Seguin, 6 p.m.

VALLEY-BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

Tuesday, Feb. 28

Class 6A Regional Semifinals

Laredo United South vs. Weslaco High at C.C. Carroll, 7 p.m.

McAllen High vs. Laredo United at C.C. Veterans, 7:30 p.m.

Class 5A Regional Semifinals

Brownsville Veterans vs. Laredo Martin, 7:30 p.m.

RGVSPORTS.COM

Weslaco High beat South San Antonio 45-43 in a Class 6A area round game on Friday in Corpus Christi to advance to the regional semifinals, where it will face Laredo United South.

Weslaco (32-5) started the game strong, ending the first quarter with a 14-10 lead. That advantage ballooned to 34-19 at the end of the third. South San Antonio (26-7) went on a late run, but Weslaco was able to maintain control and secure the victory.

LAREDO UNITED SOUTH 49, WESLACO EAST 46: At San Antonio, Weslaco East finished the season 17-16 overall. The Wildcats were eliminated in the area round, advancing one round further than they did a year ago. East will lose several key players to graduation, including point guard Jonathan Muñoz.

Georgetown Tournament

At Round Rock

Friday’s Games

Rockwall-Heath 8, Mission Veterans 7

Mission Veterans 6, Waco-Midway 4

Laredo Border Olympics

At Laredo

Friday’s Games

Laredo United South 5, La Joya Palmview 1

Del Rio 6, Laredo Cigarroa 0

New Braunfels 9, Edinburg High 3

Edinburg North 19, Donna High 1

C.C. Ray 9, Zapata 1

Brownsville Hanna 9, Rio Grande City 3

PSJA North 3, SA Brennan 2

South San Antonio 6, Leander Rouse 1

Edinburg Vela 10, Hidalgo 5

La Joya High 8, Beeville 0

Flour Bluff 7, Smithson Valley 6

Magnolia West 10, Laredo LBJ 0

SA Johnson 13, Calallen 1

Boerne Champion 7, Weslaco High 2

C.C. Veterans Memorial 5, Laredo Alexander 2

Eagle Pass 8, Clemens 5

SA Madison 13, Uvalde 12

Tomball 7, Laredo Nixon 2

PSJA High 4, Houston Westside 0

South San Antonio 9, Eagle Pass Winn 1

Houston Milby 8, La Joya Palmview 0

SA Brandeis 8, Zapata 5

Valley View 13, Beeville 1

Pasadena Dobie 9, SA Brennan 2

Edinburg North 7, Smithson Valley 5

Boerne Champion 6, Rouse 5

New Braunfels 6, Laredo United South 2

C.C. Ray 5, Magnolia West 4

SA Johnson 8, La Joya High 0

SA Madison 10, Hidalgo 6

Houston 4, Edinburg High 1

SA Brandeis 18, Laredo LBJ 2

17 annual Port Isabel/Los Fresnos Tournament

Friday’s Games

Weslaco East 16, PSJA Southwest 0

Rio Hondo 4, Donna High 1

Rio Hondo 6, Brownsville Lopez 4

Tuloso-Midway 12, C.C. London 4

El Paso Ysleta 10, Edinburg Economedes 0

Brownsville Lopez 6, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 2

C.C. Miller 6, Falfurrias 2

Port Isabel 15, El Paso Ysleta 1

Los Fresnos 3, Tuloso-Midway 2

Edinburg Economedes 3, Brownsville Veterans 2

Grulla 7, C.C. London 4

Saturday’s Games

At Port Isabel

Third-Place Game

Tuloso-Midway vs. El Paso Ysleta, 1:30 p.m.

Championship Game

Port Isabel vs. Los Fresnos, 3:30 p.m.