By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
PHARR — PSJA North starting pitcher Matt Garza stymied Brownsville Veterans Memorial by throwing a complete game, helping the Raiders take Game 1 of a best-of-three bi-district playoff series 9-2 on Friday.
Game 2 is at 2 p.m. today at Brownsville Veterans and Game 3, if necessary, follows 45 minutes later.
Garza allowed two runs on three hits, walked two and struck out seven, and the Raiders offense did its part as well.
“(Matt) did a good job (Friday). He told me in the fourth inning he was done,” PSJA North coach Rene Soza said. “I told him, ‘No sir, you’re not done, you’ve worked so hard all year, you’re going to push yourself. We’re going to push you, you’re doing you’re job. Less pitches and keep the pitch count down, believe in yourself.’
“I told him to have confidence and he did, he just got better and better.”
Brownsville Veterans received a leadoff single from Javier Pena, and he eventually scored on a passed ball to give the Chargers a 1-0 lead during the first inning.
PSJA North didn’t waste time during the bottom half of the inning. With two outs, the Raiders had five straight hits and scored four runs. Roy Martinez posted a two-run double, Enrique Alaniz followed with a RBI double and Isaac Cantu had a run-scoring single to give the Raiders a 4-1 advantage.
“The guys prepared and were relaxed all week,” Soza said. “We came out and made some mistakes left and right, but I talked to them and told them we have to get after it. Believe in yourselves and what we’ve prepared for all week.”
PSJA North added a run on a Chargers error during the second inning to make it 5-1. One inning later, Christian Chavez added a single to give the Raiders a 6-1 lead.
“We couldn’t get a rally going,” Brownsville Veterans coach Joey Benavides said. “We made some costly mistakes, some errors that cost us some runs. From some people that (it) usually never happens to. So I think it was playoff nerves. They were nervous, and hopefully by (today) it’s gone.”
Brownsville Veterans added a run during the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by David Anaya to cut the deficit to 6-2.
Chargers starting pitcher Luis Acosta pitched five innings, allowed six runs on seven hits, walked none and struck out eight.
The Raiders scored three insurance runs during the sixth inning on a single by Brandon Romo and a two-run double by Alexis Solis.
Don’t expect North to change much today in Game 2.
“The kids are high, and they believe in themselves,” Soza said. “I told them, ‘Go out and get your rest. Don’t be overconfident and have fun. Keep doing what you’re doing.’”
The Chargers’ offense sputtered in Game 1 and will need to get going today if they hope to take the series.
“We didn’t have the offense that we usually have, we just couldn’t hit the ball,” Benavides said. “I told them, ‘The postseason jitters are out, and we have to come (today) and be ready to play,’ We have to play routine baseball. That’s what we didn’t do.”
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.