DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
LA JOYA — Edinburg High entered Friday’s La Joya Tournament game against Edinburg Vela on a low. Vela came in on a high.
By the time the game ended two hours later, it was the Bobcats feeling pretty good and the SaberCats wondering what happened.
Edinburg High dominated Vela 11-2 in five innings in a game that was called short because of the tournament’s two-hour time limit. Senior ace and Texas Tech commit John Henry Gonzalez threw all five innings for the Bobcats and struck out eight and walked three. His only hiccup was a two-run double by Aaron Galvan during the second inning.
The Bobcats pounded out 12 hits against Galvan, the SaberCats’ sophomore ace, and three Vela relievers. They played a clean game defensively. It was a welcome sight for a team that started the season with five losses in eight games.
“It’s definitely nice,” Edinburg High coach Robert Valdez said “The main thing is this was a game that wasn’t so much about Robert Vela, it was about ourselves. We hadn’t been finishing games, we had been playing sloppy and undisciplined. It’s not about getting the win, it’s about progressing. It was really great to see everybody come together as a team.”
Edinburg High (3-5-1) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and was never threatened the rest of the way. Seven of nine hitters registered a hit. Daniel Solis went 3-for-3 with five RBIs, demonstratively dismissing a slump by opening up his stance and following through on the ball, and Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a RBI.
“Yeah, just a bit,” Gonzalez said with a smile when asked if he feels his hitting is overlooked. “Everybody thinks of John Henry the pitcher, but my hitting is good and I’m only going to get better.”
Galvan lasted just 3 1/3 innings, walking four and striking out one while surrendering seven runs on six hits. In three appearances this season, the lefty has 14 walks to 11 strikeouts but has been the rock of Vela’s rotation.
“I tried way too hard,” Galvan said. “I wanted to shut them out and I was just trying to overpower. I wasn’t really pitching. I thought I could blow it by them, and I left the ball up a lot. I have to learn from this.”
On the mound, Gonzalez gave the scouts and fans in attendance what they came to see. Just a couple of weeks removed from an ankle injury, the right-hander used a hard-blowing inside fastball to set-up an outside curveball that left Vela (5-2-1) searching for answers.
Vela hitters never adjusted against Gonzalez. Though they managed some success at the top of the order in drawing walks and getting on base, nothing came of it.
Vela coach Jaime Perez said his team didn’t compete.
“They took it to us,” Perez said. “We were beat and we never recovered, and this one is difficult on me because we haven’t done this all year. I’ve got to reflect and go back and just make sure the kids see this as one game. It happens to everybody.
“To these kids, it meant a lot because it is Edinburg High, but this has no bearing on us.”
Before Friday, the SaberCats had been one of the hottest teams to start the season. They had a strong run at the loaded Border Olympics tournament last weekend, only losing by one run to eventual tourney champ Boerne Champion.
That was Vela’s lone blemish before running into the Bobcats.
“I have a feeling we were a little scared of the name, and he’s a good pitcher, but I believe we could have hit him a little bit more,” Galvan said of going up against Gonzalez. “We just have to compete harder.”
That’s what Perez was asking of his team after Friday’s game. And it’s what Valdez and his players loved seeing from the winners during the contest.
“We hadn’t been feeling confident about ourselves and our team,” Solis said. “We weren’t confident about winning. But now, beating a quality team like Vela, we can get some momentum and keep this going.”