DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
SAN ANTONIO — In discussing his team’s surging offense earlier this week, Hidalgo baseball coach Karlos Carrasco did not mince words.
“We’re rolling,” Carrasco said, “and it’s going to be hard to stop us.”
Yup.
The Pirates rolled right past Freeport Brazosport 13-7 in Game 2 of their Class 4A regional semifinals on Saturday at Dickson Stadium, sweeping their way into the Elite 8 for the second straight year.
Hidalgo (25-5-1) had 13 hits and walked seven times. The Pirates struck out just twice in 43 at-bats.
“It’s just practice. A lot of practice,” said infielder Mike Alvarez, who went 5-for-5 with two RBIs. “We’re working. We can’t be stopped right now.”
It’s been a clinic all postseason for Hidalgo, which improved to 7-0 in the playoffs and has outscored opponents 64-34. It was in full force on Saturday.
Up and down the lineup, the Pirates were relentlessly disciplined. They worked deep into the count. They only swung at good pitches. They forced Brazosport to go to its bullpen early, as the Exporters removed starter Mike Traylor after just two innings.
Leading 4-1, the Pirates put the game to bed in the fifth inning, scoring nine runs aided by five hits and three Exporter errors. Hidalgo scored two of those runs off errors, another off a wild pitch and capped the 12 at-bat frame with a three-run bomb by Adrian Ruiz.
“They threw a bunch of fastballs,” said Ruiz, who went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and an intentional walk. “The curveball wasn’t there for them at all. They were just dropping to the floor, and we’re a team that takes advantage of fastballs.”
The Pirates’ only mistake? Failing to prevent the Exporters from scoring more than two runs in the bottom of the fifth to earn a run-rule decision.
Instead, Brazosport avoided that dishonor, and because of that the game ran into a rain delay that lasted 2 hours, 45 minutes.
It merely prolonged the inevitable.
“We could’ve been halfway home by now,” Alvarez joked. “But it is what it is. We stayed focused and we got the job done.”
In the playoffs, the Pirates are averaging 9.1 runs.
“Hitting is a contagious thing with this team right now, and they feed off each other,” Carrasco said. “Once one gets going, it’s hard to stop all nine, man. It’s crazy.”
Hidalgo starter Kike Mendoza threw four innings and surrendered four runs on seven hits. It was his control early that kept the Exporters at bay.
Mendoza threw only 23 pitches through the first three innings before being relieved in the bottom of the fifth by sophomore Raul Ortiz.
The Exporters made it closer than it should have been with six runs combined in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, but Ortiz got a clutch strikeout of Travis Simmons on three straight strikes to end the game.
“To be the first team in Hidalgo history to go to the Elite 8, and now repeating that? It’s amazing,” senior Oscar Noguera said. “It’s amazing. I’m just so proud of it all.”