DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
HIDALGO — Hidalgo has battled growing pains via inexperience and an injury to one of its top position players. But five games into the district season, the Pirates find themselves in a familiar position: first place in 32-4A.
Hidalgo beat Port Isabel 8-5 at home on Thursday night to force a two-way tie for first. The Pirates got timely hitting — inconsistent most of this season — and stellar pitching from junior ace Samuel Jimenez, forced into the No. 1 role after playing on junior varsity last season.
Hidalgo coach Karlos Carrasco said before the game he’s seen his team at its absolute best and its absolute worst this season. On Thursday, the Pirates were at their absolute best when they needed to be.
“They came through, finally,” Carrasco said. “These guys are trying to find their momentum, their rhythm. We really needed this. We had been coming up short in big situations, and we finally came through.”
Port Isabel (9-3-1, 4-1 32-4A) jumped out on top when Jeremy Martinez scored on an error, an unwelcome trend for the Pirates on Thursday. Hidalgo (10-7, 4-1) answered by scoring three in the bottom of the first, and went ahead 4-2 in the third inning when Luis Rosales homered for the second time this week.
“It was a fastball and I took advantage,” Rosales said. “It was exciting.”
The Tarpons rallied to tie it at 4 before the Pirates pulled away for good.
Senior Mike Alvarez had a fourth-inning RBI single, and No. 9 hitter Raul Ortiz delivered the blow with two-run double in the fifth for a three-run lead.
The Tarpons used two of their top pitchers before the game was even five innings old. Starter Antonio Garza and Jose Martinez, a combined 8-1 with 8 earned runs in 53.1 innings this season, allowed seven runs on eight hits, walking six and striking out five in 4.1 innings.
The Pirates’ offense did its job, and the game would have been a rout if the defense did its job. Three of Port Isabel’s five runs came via errors, a brief glimpse of the Pirates at their worst.
“That’s bad on our part, and we have to take care of our business to get where we really want to be,” Carrasco said.
The right-handed Jimenez threw a complete game and struck five while allowing two earned runs on seven hits. He walked one.
“These coaches are working for me, and I know this is a big responsibility,” Jimenez said. “There is tradition. They tell us we are one of the best teams, in the Valley and the state.”
The Pirates came into this season ranked No. 11 in Class 4A by the Texas Association of Baseball Coaches. They are not currently ranked. But with All-Valley player Dylan Dougherty sidelined for all but one game so far this season with shoulder and leg injuries, it’s been a process for a Pirates team that only has two starters in the lineup from last year’s Elite 8 finalist.
“We’re almost getting to where we’re supposed to be,” said Alvarez, one of those returning starters. “That team was undefeated coming in and this was huge for us.”