By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Two district champions are among the four Metro-area baseball playoff teams this season.
Brownsville Veterans Memorial won the District 32-6A title and Porter took the District 32-5A trophy. Both the Chargers and Cowboys were 13-1 against district opponents this season.
Also earning a postseason berth in 32-6A was Hanna. The Golden Eagles finished third behind Harlingen South and have earned a playoff spot in seven straight seasons with coach Eddie Garcia at the helm.
Port Isabel earned the fourth playoff spot in District 32-4A. The Tarpons lost to La Feria during their last regular-season game and ended up with the final spot.
Hanna opens against a familiar opponent, Weslaco High, the team that beat the Eagles in a best-of-three series last season.
The teams begin another best-of-three series tonight at 7 p.m. tonight at Hanna. Game 2 is at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Weslaco High and Game 3 if necessary, is at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hanna.
“They have most all of their guys back this year,” Hanna coach Eddie Garcia said. “I’m very impressed with their pitching. They have two solid starters, both righties that throw the ball pretty hard, good offspeed stuff. We have our hands full, that’s for sure.”
The Eagles hope to build some confidence in their young team by taking Game 1.
“We can’t play against ourselves, we have to make the routine plays, play solid D,” Garcia said. “Keep it close, hopefully we get lucky here and there. We have to put the ball in play, try to manufacture some runs and see what happens.”
Porter earned a district title but lost a coin flip, so they must face Roma in a one-game playoff at 7 p.m. tonight at Mission High.
The Cowboys’ focus will be slightly altered.
“We have to approach it, try to win every inning, treat every inning like a game,” Porter coach Barton Bickerton said. “The only good thing is we know exactly who they’re going to throw, and they have one real good one.”
Bickerton said the team will try to make the opposing pitcher throw a lot of pitches by working the count and hopefully wearing him down. With a win or go home situation, every run matters.
“We’ll play a lot more small ball than we had to in district,” he said. “Runs are going to be scarce and you have to get them while you can, especially in a one-game situation.
“We’re going to definitely try to move guys over and try to find out a way to scratch out three or four runs.”
Brownsville Veterans begins its postseason with a best-of-three series at 7 p.m. Friday at PSJA North. Game 2 will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Brownsville Veterans and, if necessary, Game 3 will begin 45 minutes later.
The Chargers played PSJA North earlier in the season (and won 8-0), but that doesn’t matter, Brownsville Veterans coach Joey Benavides said.
“I know they’ve been a playoff team in the past. They are going to play us tough and throw everything they can at us,” he said. “We’re just keeping the kids focused, stressing our practices are filled with quality at-bats, working on our defensive strategy, making the routine plays and backing up our pitchers.”
Benavides knows that the Chargers have to be ready from the start.
“I think in any playoff series, winning the first game is huge,” he said. “Come out and get that confidence. There’s still two games to play, but that makes it much easier to finish the series. That first game is crucial.”
Port Isabel faces District 31-4A champion Robstown in a best-of-three series starting at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Robstown. Game 2 will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Port Isabel and, if necessary, Game 3 will begin 30 minutes after.
The series changed from only one game in Port Isabel to two due to school testing. But that doesn’t make much difference.
“It doesn’t really matter, we still got to play,” Port Isabel coach Robert Holland said. “Whether we have a game or two on our home field, we still have to play.”
Robstown wanted a one-game playoff, but the Tarpons won the coin flip. Now Port Isabel will focus on getting a Game 1 victory on the road.
“One or three, you still have to beat them. Of course, that’s why you play,” Holland said. “If we don’t, we’ll regroup Saturday morning and try to get Game 2 and 3.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.