Brownsville Veterans Memorial was quite productive at the plate against Rivera.
It started with the Chargers’ Jorge Montelongo hitting a two-run home run to left field in the first inning and Brownsville Veterans added seven more runs while it banged out 13 hits against the Raiders in a 9-0 victory in District 32-6A baseball on Tuesday at Rivera.
“It was a curve ball that was hanging,” Montelongo said. “I just took it like in (batting practice). I swung hard, just trying to help my pitcher out.”
Montelongo finished 2 for 3 with a walk, two runs scored and two RBIs. Alex Sayas was 3 for 4 with a pair of RBI-singles and scored three runs for the Chargers (2-0 in District 32-6A).
The two-run shot by Montelongo was all Brownsville Veterans pitcher Noe Solis needed, but the Chargers made sure to back their starting pitcher.
“It made us realize it’s going to be a good day,” Brownsville Veterans coach Eric Gonzalez said. “Usually in the first inning when someone can lead off with a good shot or a line drive, it kind of shows everybody (the opposing pitcher’s) hittable.”
Solis was nearly the opposite of hittable. He went the distance, allowing no runs on just four hits, walked one and struck out eight.
After the first inning, the Chargers added a run in the second inning on a RBI-single by Sam Chapa.
In the fourth inning, Brownsville Veterans added a couple more runs with run-scoring singles by Sayas and Santiago Moody to make it a 5-0 game.
The Raiders (0-2 in district) had their chances, none better than the fourth with the bases loaded, but saw its threat end with an inning-ending double play.
“We had a spot with our DH up there, he swings the bat well, too. He hit the ball well, he just hit it to the shortstop,” Rivera coach Travis Parker said. “Left or right we might get it through, we may get two runs and it might be a different ball game, but that’s baseball.”
The Chargers added a run in the sixth inning on a force out and three more runs in the seventh, including an RBI-single from Sayas to seal the victory.
Rivera starting pitcher Kameron Shears took the loss after throwing a complete game. But he was roughed up by the Chargers’ offense that yielded nine runs on 13 hits; he walked three and struck out two.
Rivera had trouble getting to Solis, but even when the Raiders got runners aboard, it had trouble bringing them home.
“It was just a little bit of experience at the plate,” Parker said. “When you have a pitcher like that, I mean Noe threw a heck of a game, hats off to him, we have to be more selective (at the plate). It’s going to happen, we’re a young team; it’s kind of been our Achilles heel. We had one or two bad innings and we haven’t had that clutch hit yet.”
The Chargers are clicking both offensively and defensively in district games so far. Brownville Veterans has scored 17 runs and allowed zero through two games.
“We hit the ball hard, I’m happy about the guys’ performance hitting wise,” Gonzalez said. “And of course Noe did a fantastic job, I know he really went after it those last couple innings and shut them down. Our pitching has done a fantastic job (so far this season).”
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.