BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — Edinburg High junior starting pitcher John Gonzalez beat the Edinburg Economedes Jaguars by himself.
Gonzalez pitched a no-hitter and drove in the game-winning run as the Bobcats topped the Jags 4-0 in both teams’ District 31-6A opener.
“Losing to these guys last year, it feels good to redeem ourselves this year,” senior center fielder Christian Medina said.
“We were able to cash in on some two-out hits, and that was really the difference,” Edinburg High coach Robert Valdez said.
Gonzalez got the ball to start the game, and he promptly mowed down the first two batters before getting the third to pop out to right. The frame was a sign of things to come.
“That start felt really good,” Gonzalez said. “It gave me a lot of confidence, which helped me hit my spots as the game went on.”
“He was able to locate his fastball tonight, and that is what got him the win,” Valdez said. “We are going to go as we pitch, and John set the tempo tonight. He was able to get some early strikeouts and get comfortable in there.”
Gonzalez went all seven innings with 11 strikeouts and two walks.
The game-winner came in the bottom of the third. Junior right fielder Roy Rodriguez reached on a single smashed off of a hanging curveball from senior Econ starter Pablo Juarez, then picked up a steal to get into scoring position.
“I was just trying to trust my coach and read the signs,” Rodriguez said. “The ball beat me, but I slid in a way that the tag came late and I was safe.”
Gonzalez came up later with Rodriguez at second. A nearby ice cream truck provided the soundtrack to Gonzlez’s winning hit.
“Two outs, but I knew we had to score first,” Gonzalez said. “It was a fastball outside, and I drove it (to the opposite field).”
“He’s a veteran, as a junior, and we expect him to get it done on both sides,” Valdez said. “He put it together well tonight.”
Senior shortstop Jesse Garcia drove in Gonzalez, and the 2-0 lead was more than enough.
“He’s our stallion, our stud,” Medina said. “If he’s on like he was tonight, everybody tries to play up to their expectations. We know we can trust him to get it done.”
Gonzalez was coming closer to the pitch-count limit as the sixth inning wrapped up, but there was no doubt he would be out there for the seventh with the chance to seal the no-hitter.
“It was his to finish,” Valdez said. “He’s been in that situation before, and it was his game to lose after what he did on the mound and at the plate. We weren’t going to take that away from him.”
Gonzalez flirted with a perfect game, but two walks and an error led to the Jaguars’ three base runners. Gonzalez even took care of one of those with a caught stealing. The error was a painful one. With a Jaguar headed to third, a pop-up came toward junior third baseman EJ Alanis. He watched the ball almost all the way into the glove, but at the last second the ball popped out, and both runners were safe. Some lackadaisical running from the Jaguars cost them a run on the error.
The Bobcats added a run in the fifth, when Rodriguez reached on a catcher’s interference call and was later driven in by Gonzalez for his second RBI of the game.
The final run came from Alanis, who atoned for his earlier error with a double. Senior first baseman Chris Nieto drove in Alanis.
The youthful Bobcats are still maturing, but the foundation is in place to get them to the next level.
“We need to work on our consistency,” Gonzalez said. “Sometimes we do good hitting, but some games we don’t. We are a young team, so I feel like we will get better at that as we go along.”