DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
PSJA High baseball coach Marco Guajardo is pretty satisfied at the moment.
“We’re rolling,” Guajardo said. “We’re battling.”
PSJA High is 14-3-2 overall, 10-1 in District 32-5A, and in contention for a district title. The reason? Defense.
“Our pitching has been really solid,” Guajardo said of a three-man rotation that has a 1.76 ERA and 96 strikeouts to 56 walks in 103.2 innings. “That’s what’s helped us. We really haven’t let anybody score any runs. We’re hitting OK, but our pitching has carried us.”
The Bears go with Troy Flores, Marc Castillo and Kike Rubio on the bump. He also has Andrew Castaneda ready in relief if needed.
PSJA High had some questions about its pitching entering the season. Who would be the No. 1? How much depth is there?
Consider those answered. Flores (6-0 record) has six appearances, Rubio (2-2) 5 and Castillo (1-0) 3. Castaneda has made four appearances.
“They’re hitting their spots better,” Guajardo said “Their secondary pitches, they’re locating well and getting strikes early on. They’re getting stronger and the location has been the key.”
Offensively, the Bears are not as efficient. The top of the order, 1 through 5, is fine, led by the prowess of Christian Sanchez (.500 average, 2 home runs, 13 walks, .850 slugging percentage) and Rubio (.426 average, 25 RBIs, three homers). But the bottom of the lineup has stranded runners consistently.
“It’s a matter of trying to use all fields, hit the ball the other way,” Guajardo said. “That’s the key.”
The Bears are hoping to put it all together by Tuesday.
Guajardo said he is not overlooking today’s tilt against Mercedes, but next week’s bout against Brownsville Porter will determine the district title if the Bears take care of business tonight.
Porter is 10-1 in district and beat PSJA High once this season, a 5-2 result in which the Bears left the bases loaded twice.
“It’s a big game, a game we’d like to be involved in,” Guajardo said. “It’s exciting. Every game, the kids talk about how Porter did. It’s going to be a playoff atmosphere, and we’re really looking forward to it.”
YOUNG AND GOOD
Don’t call Valley View young.
The Tigers are, starting five freshmen and one sophomore, but they don’t want that used as an excuse.
Valley View is in contention for a District 31-5A playoff spot despite graduating seven seniors from last season. The Tigers expected to be here.
“We saw it more as we were going to fight for a playoff spot, not rebuild,” fourth-year assistant coach Rick Hernandez said. “We’re young, but these kids have played together since they were little — travel ball, select ball. It was just a matter of putting it together.”
Mission accomplished. The Tigers earned a huge 4-3 upset win against Sharyland High on Tuesday in what was a must-win affair to keep their playoff hopes alive.
“Things just went our way,” Hernandez said. “They had bases loaded, one out and we get a double play. To get out of two other innings, we threw out a guy at home each time.”
It’s been a process. The Tigers struggled at the start of this season, notorious for swinging at pitches out of the zone. They have since cut down the strikeouts, and that’s been a boon for a pitching staff that has “come alive,” Hernandez said.
“We have such a young team that the speed of the game was a bit too fast,” Hernandez said. “Now they’re throwing strikes and they have confidence in themselves.”
Guys like freshman Ediberto Reyes (the team’s leading hitter at .461) and junior Aaron Rodriguez (who pitched 1 2/3 innings and struck out five to close out the Rattlers) have starred.
Tonight provides another opportunity for growth. The Tigers visit Roma to face a Gladiators team they are chasing for the final playoff spot.
Valley View is 4-6 in district, Roma 5-5. The Tigers fell to Roma 6-0 earlier this season, but, as they will attest, they are far from the same team.
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RGVSPORTS.COM H.S. BASEBALL TOP 10 POLL
Rank, Team Record Previous
1, Brownsville Veterans Memorial 17-1-2 2
2, Edinburg High 15-2-1 3
3, La Joya Palmview 15-2-1 5
4, Sharyland High 17-3 1
5, Brownsville Porter 14-5 8
6, Edinburg North 13-4-2 7
7, Hidalgo 15-5-1 6
8, Harlingen South 15-4 4
9, Mission Veterans Memorial 17-6 9
10, PSJA High 14-3-2 10