By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Sammy Chapa continued to lift Brownsville Veterans Memorial with a big effort against Porter.
Chapa went the distance and the Chargers came back from early deficit and broke a tie game at 4 in the seventh inning on a fielder’s choice to top the Cowboys 5-4 in a District 32-5A game Friday at Porter.
Chapa allowed four runs on four hits, walked three and struck out three in a complete game effort. He helped out his cause along the way going 3 for 4 at the plate with an RBI-triple and a run scored.
“Everyone was together, telling each other to hold the rope, everybody stuck together and we got the W,” he said. “They’re a good ball club and they fought until the end, but we pulled through.”
With no outs and bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning, the Chargers’ hit into a double play, but a run scored to give Brownsville Veterans a 5-4 lead and Chapa shut the door in the bottom half.
He ended it with a double play of his own, a 1-6-3 for the final two outs to seal the win as the Chargers (4-1 in District 32-5A) took the edge on the Cowboys (3-2) in the district standings.
“Sammy is a competitor at heart and he’s one of the kids that’s leading this team,” Brownsville Veterans coach Albert Rodriguez said. “The kids need that competitiveness, that edge. It was a battle of runs and luckily Sammy shut them down, he’s been doing that all year.”
The game was intense throughout as the two teams battled back and forth. But it was Porter who struck first in the second inning with a pair of runs on an errant throw to take a 2-0 lead.
Brownsville Veterans got one back in the fourth inning on an RBI-double by Ramico Rodriguez. The Cowboys answered in the bottom half with a perfect squeeze bunt by Marco Castro to score another run and a 3-1 edge.
The Chargers took the lead, 4-3, with three runs in the fifth inning. One of those came on an RBI-single by Aaron Recio and he scored on a triple by Chapa.
“We gave some runs away on defense,” Porter coach Oscar Cortez said. “It’s hard, we beat ourselves. We struggled to produce runs and then we gave them back. We can’t give runs away, we’ve done that all season.
“It’s tough, the kids work hard every day, but we have to keep working.”
Porter evened the game in the sixth inning as Cesar Lartigue came through with an RBI-single before Brownsville Veterans retook the lead in the final inning off Cowboys relief pitcher, Lupe Soto. He took the loss after he allowed one run on one hit, walked one and didn’t get a strikeout in an inning of work.
Porter starter Felix Ledezma got a no-decision after allowing four runs on six hits, walked four and struck out five in six innings.
The Cowboys took their second straight district loss, but they know they have the talent to fight for a district title.
“Everyone is coming for us, but we’re up for the challenge,” Cortez said. “We have to produce when we have runners on base and do the things we know how to do.”
The Chargers rebounded after a loss to Lopez earlier this week.
“We came out flat against Lopez and it was a bitter taste in our mouth,” Rodriguez said. “We decided to work harder because nobody’s going to rest and we need to treat every game like its do or die. In this district, Ws are hard to come by.”
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.