BY JOHN JOE RIVERA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
SAN JUAN — Despite a slow start, the Edinburg Vela SaberCats bats eventually came alive as they cruised to a 5-2 win over the Laredo Alexander Bulldogs in Game 1 of their Class 6A area round playoff series.
“It was huge for our program. Very big for our program right now,” Vela coach Jaime Perez said. “Playing a good quality program like Laredo Alexander with a ton of tradition, it was big for us. Really big for us.”
The SaberCats were held scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when Nico Rodriguez connected with a single to left field, bringing in Ryan Rodriguez for a 1-0 lead.
During the next inning, the SaberCats piled on with three more runs to take a commanding 4-0 lead over the Bulldogs.
Ryan Rodriguez batted in Matt Vela to get the third inning scoring party started. Slugger Aaron Galvan then brought Rodriguez in for his second run of the night off a fly ball that Alexander’s right fielder misplayed due to losing track of the ball in the stadium lights.
Galvan made his way home after Alexander pitcher Francisco Hernandez got into a jam, walking the next three batters he faced. Hernandez eventually recovered by striking out Adam Alviso to end the scoring threat, but the damage was done as Vela took a 4-0 lead into the top of the fifth inning.
The Bulldogs eventually got on the scoreboard with one run in the top of the fifth, but Vela responded quickly with a run of its own off a wild pitch.
Alexander almost mounted a comeback in the top of the seventh inning, as Vela’s ace pitcher Andre Martinez began showing signs of fatigue. Martinez walked the first batter he faced, then allowed a base hit followed by another walk to load the bases. Nico Rodriguez relieved Martinez and forced Alexander into a double-play as he cleanly fielded a dribbler down the third-base line and fired it home for the first out. Vela catcher R.J. Ochoa threw out Alexander’s Ramon Ballina at first base to complete the double play.
Game 2 of the series will be played at 4 p.m. today at Uni-Trade Stadium in Laredo. If necessary, the third game will be played 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 2.