By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Hanna used a combination of good pitching, solid defense and timely hitting to take Game 1 against La Joya Palmview.
The Golden Eagles used those three aspects and held off the Lobos 4-3 in the first game of a best-of-three Class 6A area round playoff series Friday at Hanna.
Hanna (18-11) rode the arm of Noe Guerrero, who went the distance while allowing three runs on five hits and four walks with six strikeouts. The sophomore got himself out of a jam during the sixth and got all the help he needed from Michael Gomez and Cristian Gonzalez. Gomez had a few run saving plays at shortstop and Gonzalez provided with his bat. He was 2 for 3 with a double and finished with three RBIs for the Eagles.
“(Noe) needed to start using his legs a little more,” Hanna coach Eddie Garcia said of Guerrero in the tense sixth inning. “He got a little tense, but he hit his spots and got that last bit of juice he had left. He told me, ‘Coach, I want this.’ So once I saw his face, I had to go with it.”
It certainly wasn’t easy for Hanna.
The Eagles broke a scoreless game in the second inning with an RBI single by Efrain Martinez to take a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the third, Gomez came through with his glove to preserve the lead, climbing the ladder to snare a two-out liner that was on its way to being run-scoring single with a runner on third base.
Hanna added to its lead the next inning. Israel Lambarri singled and scored on a double by Gonzalez to take a 2-0 edge.
In the fourth, La Joya Palmview got one back with a solo home run off the bat of Leo Perez. Perez hit the towering blast over the left-field fence to cut the deficit.
Hanna answered in the bottom half of the frame, however, as Gonzalez came through again with a two-out, two-run single to push Hanna ahead 4-1.
“We had a couple hits with two outs and they were big,” Eddie Garcia said. “We played good D and those were also big. If (La Joya Palmview) is going to beat us, they’re going to have to earn it.”
The Lobos eventually attempted a comeback in the sixth inning.
Anthony Rocha beat out a bases-loaded single to third, allowing a pair of runs to cross the plate to finish out the scoring. Gomez saved the Eagles again when he came through with a run-saving putout on a line drive to preserve the eventual win.
“We didn’t hit the ball well,” La Joya Palmview coach Rick Garcia said. “Our kids hit the ball hard, but (Hanna) made some great plays, they played great defense. We made a couple mistakes, they don’t score those two runs, it’s a different ball game, but it’s baseball.
“We’ve been here before, we just have to come back and fight.”
Guerrero came back strong in the seventh to retire the Lobos in order and seal the Game 1 win.
“I had to calm myself down and hit my spots,” he said about the tough sixth inning. “I was praying to get out of it, but I had great defense behind me, so I was confident and I was able to get out of it.”
Hanna gained momentum and confidence with the Game 1 win heading into today’s Game 2.
“It was really big, we can be confident going into the next game,” Guerrero said. “But we have to stay humble.”
For La Joya Palmview, it will look to get its offense going in today.
“We have to be disciplined at the plate and do what we’re supposed to do,” Rick Garcia said. “It’s not over yet, we have to fight back.”
Hanna’s coach wasn’t ready to breathe easy just yet.
“I’m sure (La Joya Palmview) are going to bounce back, it’s not over, so we have to get ready,” Eddie Garcia said. “The job isn’t finished, we’re going to go out there and give it all we got. We need to play like we did (Friday), we have to put it together and not give them any breathing room. Hopefully we can put it all together.”
Laredo United 4, Brownsville Veterans Memorial 0
A recent offensive drought crept into the Brownsville Veterans dugout once again Friday night.
The Chargers were kept off-balanced by the Longhorns’ left-handed starter and didn’t get going offensively in a Game 1 loss in 6A best-of-three area round playoff series in Roma.
“They threw a lefty that kept us off balanced the whole night,” Brownsville Veterans coach Eric Gonzalez said. “We couldn’t gain any momentum with our offense.”
The Chargers will try to bounce back in Game 2 today at 2 p.m. A win would force Game 3 following the completion of Game 2.
Brownsville Veterans ace pitcher Fred Villarreal was on the mound, but a couple of misplays on defense allowed the Longhorns to score a few runs. Their starter did the rest.
The Chargers know their offense will need to get on track today to keep going in the postseason.
“They were an experienced team when it comes to playoffs and they showed it (Friday),” Gonzalez said. “We need to come out and swing the bats. I think we’ll play pretty good defense, we have guys that can throw the ball well, and we just need to show it.”
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.