NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
McALLEN — La Joya High got to business early in Tuesday’s District 30-6A game against McAllen Rowe, winning 11-5 after scoring five runs during the first two innings.
The first inning was an adventure for both pitchers, but only La Joya High (4-1) made the opposing team pay big, getting to Rowe (2-3) starting pitcher Zach Perez for three runs in the first frame.
Julian Castillo was a key offensive threat for the visiting Coyotes, picking up three RBIs in his first two plate appearances and adding a fourth later in the game.
“Lately, I haven’t been to the best of my game, but today I just came with a different mindset to hit the ball hard,” Castillo said after the win. “It helps out the pitcher. As a pitcher speaking myself, it gives you confidence, and you know it lets you play the best of your ability.”
Castillo, who played first base on Tuesday, knows from experience the importance of giving his starting pitcher an early cushion.
After Castillo hit a two-run double, designated hitter Adan Garcia knocked in Castillo to put three on the board in the top of the first.
La Joya’s Jonathan Martinez allowed six batters to reach the plate in Rowe’s first inning, but only one of them came around to score.
The run was manufactured when Rowe’s C.J. Hernandez followed a walk with a double to the fence. Still, the inning could have cost La Joya more runs, but a strikeout and a fly ball ended the threat.
“At the beginning, I was a little bit, not nervous, but I wasn’t really trusting my defense, but then they started making plays, and I just got comfortable on the mound,” Martinez said. “It was the defense that helped me a lot to throw strikes.”
Castillo and Martinez had back-to-back hits and RBIs in the top of the second as La Joya built a 5-1 lead.
“We practice all week about staying disciplined at the plate, looking for the right pitch we can drive, and the kids did excellent,” La Joya coach Mario Flores said.
La Joya got hitting from up and down its lineup throughout the night, totaling 13 hits against Warriors pitching.
While Rowe showed signs of life again during its half of the third inning, the rally produced only one run. Hernandez again made solid contact with power to put himself at second base. Jonas Ortiz hit him home.
La Joya’s defense was on full display in the bottom of the fourth, when second baseman Ray Alaniz caught a line drive and touched the bag to retire the side.
Castillo added another RBI in Ortiz’s first inning of relief to complete his stellar 3-for-3 night at the plate. He reached base five times, including his two walks.
“Castillo is one of the guys that every time we’re in the cages, he takes everything seriously,” Flores said. “And every swing in the cage, he tries to drive it, and you saw that today.”
Martinez settled down to strike out six Warriors and only allow two of Rowe’s five runs.
Rowe couldn’t mirror La Joya’s sharp play in the field. On separate occasions with two outs, an error extended the inning. One of those errors turned into runs for the Coyotes.
Balanced hitting throughout the lineup is another area Flores preaches to his team.
“If our top of the lineup can’t hit, the bottom lineup has to do their job and pick them up,” Flores said. “Today was one of those games that if one didn’t hit, the next one did. I think we were very selective about our hitting.”
La Joya third basemen Anthony Peña hammered a two-run triple to score Jake Moreno and J.R. Rodriguez, pushing the lead to 8-2. The Coyotes further extended that lead after Rowe’s second pitching change. A ground ball hit by Elias Morales to shortstop Trey Prado turned into another error and two runs scoring.
Rowe put together a late rally but not enough to make a serious dent in the Coyotes lead. Perez, Prado and Richard Polanco drove in runs for the Warriors during the bottom of the seventh.
Even with the one-sided victory, Flores was sure to push his team to not allow late runs.
“Toward the end, we got a little bit too comfortable, and I was trying to get on them, trying to let them finish the game,” Flores said.