By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
Heavy rain and lightning brought an unexpected obstacle to Brownsville Porter’s Class 5A area-round series against Corpus Christi Carroll.
The Porter Cowboys were supposed to host Game 2 on their home field after losing 7-3 in the series opener Friday in Corpus. But after a nearly three-hour weather delay, the field was left unplayable and the teams made the 45-minute trip to La Villa’s turf field.
Porter ace Cristo Sauceda and Carroll pitcher Nic Mitridis were both dominant on the mound. The only runs of the contest came in the top of the first, but it was all the Carroll Tigers needed to pick up a 2-0 win, sweep the series and advance to the regional quarterfinals. The Cowboys end their season in the area round with a 21-8-1 record.
“We thought we were going to pull through in the end, and it didn’t happen. We were hitting the ball pretty well, we just didn’t get the hits that we needed. That’s baseball, I guess,” Porter coach Oscar Cortez said. “Nobody believed in us in the beginning. They had a great season, and the games that we lost were close games, lost a few in extra innings. I’m sad for them.”
Carroll’s win means all four playoff representatives from District 29-5A will battle each other again in the regional quarterfinals. Tigers coach David Marsello credited the tough district slate for making his team capable of defeating a solid ballclub like Porter.
“The competition we got in 29-5A is pretty stout. Our kids battled adversity all year long, were 0-6 in district and ran off eight of the nine (last games) to get into the four-spot,” Marsello said. “They’re playing with supreme confidence right now. They keep getting after it every game and finding a way to win. … Tip of the cap to Porter, those guys played as hard as they possibly could.”
Carroll center fielder Gilbert Gonzalez led off the game with a single to right. Sauceda walked the next batter, but he picked him off at first shortly after. After another walk followed by a strikeout looking, Mitridis gave himself the only run support needed with a two-run single to left field. He was caught in a rundown , trying to take second, to end the inning.
Mitridis was lethal on the mound. He carried a perfect game for 5 2/3 innings, with two strikeouts and plenty of help from his defense behind him.
“That’s the guy he’s been pretty much all year,” Marsello said. “He was our hard luck pitcher early on when we had injuries, so he was getting the bulk of the work and it really helped him grow and mature. He’s not going to blow you away … he’s a location guy, he’s going to pitch to contact and get a lot of soft contact. This doesn’t surprise us. This is the reward he gets for the hard work he puts in.”
Sauceda was impressive on the bump for Porter in his complete-game effort. He struck out eight, allowed six hits and issued three walks. Sauceda picked off three Tigers baserunners and even executed the old hidden ball trick to perfection in the second. He faked a throw to second as the shortstop and second baseman both dove, and as the runner began to head for third, Sauceda chased him down and tagged him out.
“That lefty (Sauceda) was pretty salty, I’m glad we got to him in the first inning or we could’ve been here ‘til midnight. He settled in and really kept us off balance, and obviously his pickoff move was devastating,” Marsello said.
The Cowboys made some solid contact on fly balls to the outfield, but the Tigers’ defense didn’t allow them to generate any run support. Porter left fielder Aaron Hernandez broke up the perfect game in the bottom of the sixth with a single to right field. Sauceda followed suit with a single to left. The two-out rally ended as Carroll caught Hernandez trying to steal third.
The Cowboys were heartbroken after the tough loss, and Cortez said they felt they had a chance to go further. The skipper got emotional as he talked about his senior standout Sauceda, but said the Cowboys have a solid group returning and they’re expecting big things again next season.
“Cristo is a special person. If you look at his numbers, I think he’s the top (pitcher) in the Valley right now. He’s something special … I’m sad for him,” Cortez said through tears.
“I told them to just keep working. Days like this will hopefully be in the future for them. We have a few seniors that are going to graduate, but we still have our structure. Hopefully it’ll be a great season next year again.”