DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — Edinburg North made John Gonzalez work on Friday night.
Edinburg High’s junior right-hander and Texas Tech commit threw 134 pitches and surrendered his first run in nine appearances this season.
But it wasn’t enough. Gonzalez still played spectacularly, and the Bobcats were clean in all phases of the game in a critical 4-1 win at Edinburg High.
“John has been on travel teams, exposed to the big games, and it was his time,” Bobcats coach Robert Valdez said. “There’s a reason he was able to commit early to where he’s going, and this was an opportunity to prove himself.
“It went his way tonight.”
Gonzalez — whose approach was to work the middle of the lineup with off-speed pitches before finishing with fastballs high and in — threw a complete game, struck out 13, walked five and allowed four hits. His lone blemish was a one-out RBI double by Cougars pitcher Carlo Servin in the seventh inning.
It is Gonzalez’s only run given up in 32 innings pitched this year.
“Most definitely, this was one of the most important games of the season,” said Gonzalez, who improved to 5-0. “Now we just have to bear down and control the rest of our way.
“I did OK tonight, but I relied on my defense. I didn’t worry about what I was throwing or if I was tired. I know my guys are going to make plays.”
Edinburg High’s offense, meanwhile, generated nine hits, stole two bases and struck out five times. The effort pushed the Bobcats further into the driver’s seat for the District 31-6A title with a 7-1 record, ahead of Weslaco High (6-2) and Edinburg North (6-3).
The Bobcats have swept the season series against the Panthers and split against the Cougars.
“All year, we’ve pondered on the thought that we’ve taken our lumps the last few years as far as being in the big games, being in the playoffs,” Valdez said. “But we needed the experience to get over that hump. Tonight says a lot about the character of these young men. They were determined and they got the job done.”
Edinburg High scored its four runs in the second and third innings. Jaime Caisano had an RBI double in the second. Matt Treviño had a two-run single in the third and Daniel Solis followed with an RBI triple.
The Cougars had their opportunities, but nothing came to fruition until late. Edinburg North put its first two hitters on base in the second inning before Gonzalez tallied a strikeout, a line-out (on a fabulous catch by third baseman Solis) and another strikeout.
Later, in the third inning, the Cougars loaded the bases with one out before another letdown, highlighted by a terrific snare for an out by Bobcats leftfielder Luis Ortega.
“They made two great plays,” Cougars coach Damian Gonzalez said. “A catch at third and a catch in left centerfield over there. I think those two plays made the difference in a well-played game.
“I’m not disappointed with the way we played. We did a tremendous job tonight.”
Coach Gonzalez said he got everything he wanted offensively. The Cougars made Edinburg High’s Gonzalez, in his first year as a starter after spending the last two years as a closer, work by being patient at the plate and forcing him to throw a lot of pitches.
Servin, the Cougars’ No. 2 pitcher as a sophomore, was solid on the mound. Senior ace Alex Canul pitched Wednesday’s surprising loss at PSJA North, a plan that was premeditated by coach Gonzalez, who works game by game.
“We never think ahead,” coach Gonzalez said. “We were thinking we needed to win the PSJA North game before this one. It just didn’t happen that way. It was (Canul’s) turn Wednesday; that’s what we did.
“I have a lot of confidence in Carlo, in my pitching staff. That’s what we’re going to ride on. The decision was easy.”
The result of the game was not. But in the end, it was the Bobcats’ seventh straight win and the Cougars’ second loss in a row.
“We came out and played as a team,” Treviño said. “We had fun. That’s what we’ve been doing. This was about the district title, and it shows we’re coming together as a team and that all the work we’re putting in during practice is paying off.”