By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — Los Fresnos’ Zak Bridgewater was having a rough night at the plate.
Then he changed that with one swing.
Bridgewater hit a leadoff, walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Falcons a 3-2 win over the Golden Eagles in a District 32-6A finale on Tuesday night.
“I just went up with the mindset that I needed to get on base somehow: a walk, a hit, hit by a pitch. Anyway to get on base,” Bridgewater said. “I saw that inside pitch and I knew I could rock it. Once he got two strikes on me, I choked up on the bat and I told myself I was going to hit it.
“I got a hold of it and it was an amazing feeling.”
Bridgewater walked in his first plate appearance, but later hit into a double play and struck out before blasting a shot over the left field fence in the comeback win for Los Fresnos (11-3 in District 32-6A).
“It was a big win and I keep telling them that every game is going to be tough,” Los Fresnos coach Rene Morales said. “I’m proud of the way they battled back.”
The Eagles’ two pitchers, Lee Alonso and Noe Guerrero, combined to allow three runs on five hits, walked eight and struck out six.
But a couple mistakes cost Hanna (9-5) on this night.
“Those guys are good, they swung the bat well and we kept them off balance early in the game,” Hanna coach Eddie Garcia said. “We knew it was going to be tough, we knew it was going to be a seven-inning ballgame, we missed a couple pitches and they made us pay for it.”
Los Fresnos broke a scoreless tie in the third inning with solo home run off the bat of Miguel Gonzalez.
Hanna tied it in the fourth on a single by Efrain Martinez. One frame later, Lee Alonzo gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead with a run-scoring single, and it appeared the edge was going to hold.
The Falcons loaded the bases in both the fourth and fifth and came up empty both times.
But Los Fresnos wasn’t done. Abel Rodriguez hit a triple to start the sixth and two batters later, Gonzalez came through again.
With two outs, he hit a sharp single to left to score Rodriguez to tie the game.
Then, Bridgewater started the seventh by sending a pitch he liked over the fence in left.
Los Fresnos threw four pitchers, Victor Montemayor, Cristian Hernandez, JJ Sanchez and Sammy Ramirez. They combined to allow just two runs on five hits, walked five and struck out five.
“We have to take one pitch at a time and we go from there,” Morales said. “We threw a bunch of kids and they did their job and gave us a chance to win.”
For Hanna, it was a tough way to lose as they head to the postseason once again under Garcia.
“It hurts and it should hurt because it was a playoff-like atmosphere,” he said. “Making the playoffs it’s normal, it’s subpar for us, but it should be. But if you want to make some noise, from here on out, forget what happened, we’re in the second season, so let’s make the most of it.”
For Los Fresnos, it was a great ending to the season and shift its focus to the playoffs.
“I think (the win) gives the team a lot of confidence. This was a big win against a really good team,” Bridgewater said. “Now we have all of this momentum going (into the playoffs). We’re going to keep believing and working hard.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.