By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Hanna got off to a bad start against Harlingen High and that was the difference in the game.
The Golden Eagles’ pitching struggled early on and the Cardinals took advantage with five runs in the first two innings in a 7-3 victory in a District 32-6A game Friday at Hanna.
“Harlingen is a good hitting ball club and every time we’ve faced them they’ve hit the ball hard,” Hanna coach Jameson Wicks said. “We were trying to be a little careful with them, upset their timing a little bit, but they were on everything. When you score that many runs in the first inning, you can get a little rattled. It was just one of those days where Raul was just a little off.”
Hanna lefty starting pitcher Raul Perez, who threw a no hitter last week, was roughed up in the first two innings and took the loss after going five innings and allowed seven runs on seven hits, walked five and struck out four. The Eagles’ defense didn’t help with a couple errors and the offense didn’t get going until it was too late. The loss ends a five-game winning streak and drops them to 7-5 in District 32-6A. Harlingen High (5-7) got three RBIs from Boedy Flores on a couple singles and he scored a run during the first two innings and that offensive outburst would be enough in the end.
With two games left, the postseason spots are still open. Currently, Hanna is in fourth and Harlingen High is tied for fifth place. It’s fitting that the top four spots, including the district champion won’t be decided until the final week of the season.
“We’re still in good shape, but we’re looking at it like we’re fighting for a playoff spot … we have to take care of business,” Wicks said. “Harlingen is still in it (too), but as long as we take care of business on Tuesday, we’re fine.”
The Cardinals didn’t waste any time getting started. Flores and Abraham Ibarra each had an RBI single and another run scored on an error for a 3-0 lead before Hanna got up to bat for the first time.
In the second inning, Harlingen High got another clutch hit from Flores, a two-run single to left field that pushed the lead to 5-0.
“We put the ball in play and put ourselves in good positions,” Harlingen High coach Juan Rangel said. “Last game we did the same thing, but it’s just one of those games where we were able to get ahead of them.”
In the fifth inning, John Ortega knocked in a run on a single to center and the Cardinals scored on another miscue to extend the advantage to 7-0.
The Eagles finally got on the board in the sixth inning. Noe Guerrero hit a triple to right field that scored a pair of runs and they added a run on a ground out to get within 7-3.
But that’s all they would get because Harlingen High southpaw Matt Sessler was solid on the mound. He went the distance and allowed three runs on just four hits, walked one and struck out three as he kept Hanna off-balanced enough to earn the win.
“When our pitching is on, we know we’re going to have a good game,” Rangel said. “That’s happened almost every game we’ve had success. Our pitchers do a good job of keeping us in the game and we put the ball in play and good things happen for our ballclub.”
The Cardinals know they have to keep up the momentum to give themselves a shot at the postseason.
“We’re still battling for a (playoff) spot, but Hanna put themselves in a good spot by taking two from Los Fresnos. They helped their cause,” Rangel said. “We knew it was going to be tough, but we knew we could split. We played hard and had good results at the end.
“We’re going to let the chips fall where they fall.”
Despite the loss, Wicks was happy his team could deal with some adversity during a game like this similar to the way postseason games or series play out.
“We need games where we’re going to have to face a tougher opponent to prepare for the playoffs,” he said. “We have a good district and it’s a really tight race up and down, it’s very competitive. Without these district games, we wouldn’t be as prepared as we are right now, but I feel good where we’re headed. They just need to keep their heads up and stay positive.”
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.