By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial found a new way to win against Los Fresnos.
The Chargers’ Santiago Moody laid down a perfect bunt for a single and drove in the winning run as they stunned the Falcons in the last inning to capture a 3-2 win during a District 32-6A baseball game on Tuesday at Brownsville Veterans.
“The whole game I struggled, so I knew it was my time in the box,” Moody said. “I thought (Coach Eric Gonzalez) was going to let me swing away, but he trusted me enough to bunt in a tie game, such an intense game. I was happy he trusted me. I did what I had to do … I’m glad I produced.”
Brownsville Veterans (6-0 in District 32-6A) was down a run heading to the last inning and used small ball to produce a pair of runs to overcome Los Fresnos (5-1) who held a 2-1 lead after the top half of the seventh inning.
“We needed to do something,” Gonzalez said. “We decided to put the ball down and move runners over. They gave us one and we saw the opportunity that they would have to defend it. We laid down some good bunts, my guys did a good job and we kept going with it.”
Los Fresnos broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh with a two-out, RBI-single by Abel Rodriguez. The Falcons took the momentum in a tight game and the Chargers had the bottom of the order coming to bat in the last inning.
Alex Sayas began the bottom of the seventh with a walk. Pinch runner Joshua Alaniz moved to second on a bunt single by Baltazar Guzman and scored on an errant throw trying to get him at third base that tied the game at two. Two batters later, pinch hitter Oscar Ponce reached on an infield single as Los Fresnos was trying to hold the runners close. The Chargers had runners on second and third with just one out.
Moody was the next batter and pushed a bunt toward the first base side that scored Guzman from third to win it.
“They just made one more play than we did, that’s what it boils down to,” Los Fresnos coach Rene Morales said. “They’ve got a great team over there, we battled with them (Tuesday). I love my kids to death they played hard. They did everything I asked them to do all week long.”
Although both teams have the ability to put up runs in bunches, Tuesday’s contest was a tight one thanks to a pair of strong pitching performances on the mound.
Los Fresno’s Nick Montemayor took the loss in a complete-game effort. He gave up three runs on seven hits, struck out four and walked two. Chargers starter Noe Solis countered with 6 2/3 innings of work. He allowed two runs on three hits, with six strikeouts and three walks. Brownsville Veterans ace Fred Villarreal came on to get the final out of the seventh and earned the win.
Brownsville Veterans broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning. David Anaya singled and advanced to third when an attempted pick off throw skipped away. One batter later, Jorge Montelongo reached on an error when the throw pulled the first baseman off the bag and Anaya trotted home to give the Chargers a 1-0 lead.
Los Fresnos would tie the game at 1 in the sixth inning. Miguel Gonzalez hit a deep double to left to score a run and even the score.
The Falcons took the lead on Rodriguez’s single an inning later, but didn’t hold on in the last half of the seventh.
“We had a helluva game, we just came up short,” Morales said. “That’s the game of baseball, you have to know what to do in certain situations. We threw the ball away here and there and that was the game.”
The Chargers never lost faith, even when it looked like the Falcons were ready to hand them their first district loss.
“Like they say, champions find ways to win and we just found a way to win,” Moody said. “We struggled a little bit, they played us hard. We came back and stayed calm, did what we had to do and thank God we won.”
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.