KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — In their 32-6A District opener the season’s first Bird Bowl didn’t disappoint the Harlingen faithful.
It took three hours and forty minutes and nine innings to decide a winner between the two rivals but it was CJ Grimaldo who provided the go ahead run, scoring Carlos Martinez.South then added an insurance run on a Dylan Carreon sacrifice fly.
The two-run frame proved to be enough, as South held on for a 7-5 win in nine innings against the Cardinals Tuesday evening at Cardinal Field.
“It was a tough game, we used some pitchers we didn’t plan on using, but sometimes you have to do those things,” said Hawks first-year coach Chris Gracia. “Tonight, the kids played together and stuck together.”
Both starting pitchers locked into a pitcher’s duel in the first four innings. Harlingen’s Justin Reta went five and 1/3 innings while South’s Mitch Stone tossed four innings. Stone exited the game in the fifth inning with a hand injury and did not return.
Prior to the injury, Stone had kept the Cardinal offense at bay with four shutout innings, fanning six, walking two and surrendering just one hit.
“All year we talked about how to handle adversity,” Gracia said. “The question is what do we do when we’re down, and tonight answered that. We didn’t put our heads down we never gave up and we came out with the win.”
South broke the score-less affair in the fifth inning with a three-run inning led by a Kike Alvarado RBI that gave the Hawks a 3-0 lead.
Harlingen quickly answered in the bottom half of the fifth with three runs of their own. After a pair of walks, John Ortega and Isaias Ibarra fueled the inning with a pair of RBIs.
The Cardinals rallied in the bottom of the seventh when Matthew Sessler drove in the tying run on a safety squeeze that tied the game at five and forced extra innings.
“This is a big win for us,” said South’s Nick Muniz. “This is one of the more crazier games I have been a part of for sure. It’s important for us to get our first district win, it keeps us one step ahead and now we have to prepare for Harlingen again on Friday.”
Both Harlingen and Harlingen South will meet again on Friday at Harlingen South and will wrap up their district meetings. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 pm.
“The new district format has its positives and negatives,” Gracia said. “We were able to come into their place tonight and get the win, that gives us an advantage, but it can go either way.”