BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
HIDALGO — On May 8, 2013, Hidalgo coach Karlos Carrasco made his mark on the school.
Carrasco was in his first year as coach of the Pirates, and they were facing a Game 3 against Robstown in the Class 3A Region IV quarterfinals. Robstown was ranked 10th in the state by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association. Hidalgo jumped on Robstown, scoring three runs in the first inning. The Pirates ballooned the lead to 6-0 in the third inning and cruised to a 10-4 victory.
Now, Robstown and Hidalgo will face each other again in the Class 4A Region IV quarterfinals.
Hidalgo (18-13, 11-3) has not faced Robstown (23-6-1, 11-3) in the playoffs since that series in 2013, but the two teams met earlier this year at the Mira’s Classic Tournament at Tuloso-Midway.
Robstown won 11-2 in the tournament game, but the Hidalgo team preparing for Game 1 at 7 tonight in Hidalgo is a lot different from the one Robstown faced on March 3.
The biggest difference is the emergence of senior pitcher Samuel Jimenez.
“As a freshman, he didn’t have a lot of confidence,” Carrasco said. “He didn’t pitch much. He was just a position player. When he started pitching, he started coming around a little bit more. Of course, he has had his struggles. Last year, he didn’t win a lot of baseball games. Not because he couldn’t do it, it was just there were a few innings where he would give it up really easy. It was kind of tough on him. He took it really hard. This season, he came in saying, ‘This year, I’m going to do it.’ He’s been great all year for us.”
Jimenez is 7-3 this year with a 2.30 ERA and 74 strikeouts. In his 14 postseason innings, he has allowed one run, which was unearned, struck out 15 and given up only one walk.
The biggest motivation for improvement for Jimenez was a game last season that still irks him. Jimenez went to the mound at home in Game 1 of the team’s bi-district series against Orange Grove. He only managed to go five innings, allowing 11 hits and six runs.
“In the first round last year, that loss didn’t sit right with him,” Carrasco said. “It left a bad taste in his mouth.”
“Last year, he didn’t have that much confidence in himself,” senior shortstop Dylan Dougherty said. “That first round loss made him work a little bit harder, and this year he is a freaking caballo (horse) out there.”
Jimenez remembers the feeling when he stepped onto the field for that Game 1.
“I was so scared,” Jimenez said. “This year, I have a lot more confidence. I am focused on going out there and doing my work for the Hidalgo Pirates.”
Jimenez’s four-pitch mix allows him to work deeper into games and face the lineup a second and third time. By throwing two complete games this postseason, Jimenez has saved other arms for critical moments when Carrasco might need to play the matchups.
“It’s great, man,” Carrasco said. “What more could you want? We don’t have to use a lot of pitching. We do have the arms, but these guys have really taken the load here. To be able to come through like that, they have been throwing a lot of strikes, and they have been very consistent all year. It’s a big plus for us.”
Carrasco has gotten similar resiliency from Raul Ortiz and Luis Rosales, the other two Pirates who have gotten starts this postseason. Hidalgo has only needed an inning and a third of bullpen relief this postseason.
Jimenez hasn’t just been a dynamo for the Pirates on the mound. In this postseason alone, Jimenez is averaging .389 with 9 RBIs, two runs scored, a triple and a home run.
Jimenez’s biggest at-bat of the postseason came against Somerset in Game 3 of the area round. Hidalgo was ahead 2-0 in the fourth inning.
“We got the bases loaded, and Samuel was up,” Carrasco said. “We said they either walk in a run, or they face him. They pitched to him. He hit a shot into left-center. He took the double. Well, they overthrew the second baseman, so he goes to third, and I saw there was nobody covering, so I sent him. It was a bang-bang play at home, but he had an inside the ballpark home run with the bases loaded.”
The Pirates scored seven runs in the inning to put away the game and the series.
That’s been the Pirates modus operandi all season: when they start hitting, they are hard to stop. Dougherty is hitting .412 this postseason, right fielder Gus Sanchez is at .462 and first baseman Ezequiel Reyes is hitting .385.
The Pirates haven’t forgotten about that drubbing at the hands of Robstown earlier this season.
“We are focused on revenge,” Dougherty said. “They 10-run ruled us in the tournaments the last two times we played them.”
“That team is really good,” Jimenez added. “But we can beat them. We are going to do our work and get to the next round.”