By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
It was a much different game than the last time Porter and Pace played.
But the result was the same.
Porter’s Jose Perez threw a complete-game shutout and the Cowboys took advantage of a Vikings error during the bottom of the sixth inning to score a run and break a scoreless tie in a 1-0 win over Pace in District 32-5A baseball action Tuesday.
The Cowboys (14-5, 10-1) defeated Pace (7-11, 4-7) 13-2 one month ago, with plenty of offense, especially during the early innings. But this one turned out to be a good, old fashioned pitchers’ duel between Perez and Pace’s Mario Andrade.
“(Jose) only had one walk, and that was big for us in a 1-0 game. You don’t want to give any free passes,” Porter coach Barton Bickerton said. “He did a great job, he’s been doing a great job all year. Hopefully we can get him a rest before the playoffs because he’s thrown a lot already.”
The southpaw Perez outdueled the Vikings’ right-hander in a game that came down to one mistake. Perez went the distance, allowing no runs, scattering five hits, walking one and striking out seven for Porter.
During the sixth inning and with two outs, Porter’s John Ross singled to center. Jesus Torres followed with another single to center and Ross advanced to third. Chris Munoz followed with a fly ball to right that was misplayed and dropped, and it allowed Ross to break the tie.
“(Mario) gave us a chance to win, that’s all we can ask for,” Pace coach Ruben Aynes said. “We popped the guy up. We had a fastball count, we threw offspeed. Just a game of mistakes, that’s all I can say. We just didn’t make the plays.”
The Vikings had one last chance during the seventh inning when Jesus Casas reached on a Cowboys error. But Perez got Erick Garza to ground out to seal the victory.
Andrade pitched six innings, allowed one run on four hits, walked one and struck out two.
Each team had chances in the early innings.
Pace had two runners on with one out during the fourth inning and didn’t bring them home. Porter had the bases loaded in the fourth with two outs but grounded out to the second baseman to end the inning.
The Vikings had an even better chance during the fifth inning. Pace had the bases loaded with only one out, but a strikeout and a soft liner ended the threat.
Pace hit the ball hard but didn’t find many holes in the Porter defense.
“I thought we hit the ball better than the first time around,” Aynes said. “We had a guy thrown at a home, but we’ve chance that. (The Porter fielder’s) got to make a good throw and they made a hell of a play. But hat’s off to them, they’re a good team, we’re a good team, it’s just a game of mistakes.”
Bickerton wasn’t concerned with less offensive firepower than the previous game against the Vikings.
“They did exactly what I tell them to do, hit the ball hard on the ground,” he said about his team’s offense. “Everything we hit was right at them and (Pace) made great plays, just the one mistake. I thought Pace played a perfect game against us. We played our game but didn’t get any breaks in the infield.
“It’s just baseball. You hope you have a pitcher on the mound to keep them where they’re at, and Perez usually does.”
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.