BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
SAN ANTONIO — Edinburg Vela junior third baseman Yulean Torrellas was the fire that ignited the SaberCats on Thursday with his heads-up base running and timely hitting.
“He has done that all year for us,” Vela coach Jaime Perez said. “That is how he plays. He is the little spark plug that gets us going. He does what he has to do to help us win.”
Not only does he show the fire on the field, he is also the source of most smiles in the dugout. Torrellas is constantly dancing and cracking jokes. Sometimes he will go up to the mound when a pitcher is laboring, and he will say just the right thing to get a quick chuckle out of his teammate, which usually helps the pitcher refocus.
“He knows how to have fun with the game that we all love,” senior pitcher Aaron Galvan said. “But he also knows when to take the game seriously and get his job done on the field.”
Torrellas drove in the game’s first run, and his hustle late in the night built some momentum for Game 2.
Vela got timely hits with men on against one of the best pitchers in Texas, but the SaberCats couldn’t muster enough offense to keep up with the hot bats of Churchill.
Churchill took Game 1 of the best-of-three regional semifinal series 7-3. Game 2 will be played at 2 p.m. Saturday at UTRGV, and if a Game 3 is necessary it will be played 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 2.
Churchill threw 6-foot-9, 230-pound righty Jack Neely. The senior is committed to the University of Texas, and on Thursday, his fastball was sitting at 93-95 mph, according to the SaberCats.
“Their pitcher did a heck of a job tonight,” Perez said. “Coming in, he couldn’t get his breaking stuff over for a strike. After the first, he started getting the slider over, really started getting that changeup over, and that made it tough.
“Still, the kids battled. We made solid contact against him — seven hits. We just missed a few basic plays on defense. We catch that ball at third, we catch that ball in center, it’s a 4-3 ballgame right now. I’m not saying we win just because of that, but the ballgame is a little closer, and we adjust our strategy as a coaching staff if that happens.”
In the top of the second, Vela senior first baseman Joey Recio walked.
“His ball was kind of flat,” Recio said of Neely. “I was just thinking anything close. Typically, I like to swing at the first pitch that’s close.”
Recio showed sound judgment and took four straight balls to get Vela rolling.
Freshman catcher Jaime Perez Jr. bunted Recio over to second, and then Torrellas delivered. He smacked a ball in the gap in right-center field for a double, scoring Recio.
“It feels good,” Torrellas said. “The ball is coming fast. You just have to put the bat there and hit the ball. It feels like the major leagues. He is 6-9, throwing 95 (mph). That hit was a big accomplishment for me.”
Seeing the run cross the plate gave the SaberCats a lot of confidence.
“That was really big,” Recio said. “Yulean has been hot. He’s a really good player, and when he hit that, it was awesome, got the whole team fired up.”
Galvan started, and he started well. He retired the side in order in the bottom of the first, but Churchill responded to Torrellas’ RBI by putting up five runs between the second and third innings.
“In the second inning, I kind of fell apart,” Galvan said. “I got behind in the counts to some of the big guys. I had to throw a strike, and that is what they teed off on. I left pitches up, and that is where they hurt me.”
Despite his struggles with the strike zone, Galvan was still in position to limit the damage a few times, but his defense failed him. A ball fell between fielders, a ball that looked foul to everyone on the Vela side was ruled fair, allowing runs to score, and then a double play was missed by a hair.
Galvan showed his tenacity, though, battling to keep his team in the game and regaining his composure to limit the Churchill offense.
“He didn’t quite have his best stuff, but he never stopped competing,” Perez said.
“We couldn’t get the breaking ball over. When we couldn’t get the changeup or the curveball over for a strike, they started sitting dead red on fastball. I knew we were in a little bit of trouble, but he still gave us a chance. He has the heart of a lion.”
In the fifth, freshman center fielder A.J. Sotello and senior second baseman Angel Salinas both reached on singles. Galvan came up with two outs and two on, and he smashed a single to drive in the pair. The two runs cut the Churchill lead down to 6-3.
Churchill responded with a run in the bottom half, and the Chargers loaded the bases to chase Galvan. Junior Marc Esquivel came in and pitched 1 2/3 innings of no-hit ball to close out the game.
In the seventh, Torrellas legged out an infield single to lead off the inning. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, then stole third. On his steal of third, he took a hit to the face on the tag.
“I’m hurting right now,” Torrellas said. “My knee is banged up, my elbow is hurting, my back is hurting, but it’s baseball. We are all feeling something at this point. I will be ready for Game 2.”
For Torrellas, senior Matthew de la Cruz — who injured his knee during the previous series against Los Fresnos and didn’t play Thursday — and the rest of the SaberCats, the day off between games will be hugely beneficial.
“Friday is going to be a big heal day,” Torrellas said. “We will be taking ice tubs, bands, running, just trying to let the body heal and be ready for Saturday.”
Despite the pain, Torrellas never stopped hustling Thursday, fighting to keep the SaberCats alive. That fighting spirit is what the SaberCats are hoping will help propel them to force a Game 3 Saturday.
“We are going to come out strong in Game 2,” Torrellas said. “Then, hopefully, we will come out strong in Game 3, as well.
“I did whatever it takes to get to third for my team tonight, and that will be the same every chance I get on Saturday.”