BY BRYAN RAMOS | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — A raider can be defined as one who attacks an enemy in enemy territory.
PSJA North lived up to its name Friday night as the Raiders in black and silver walked into PSJA High’s C.V. Cain Baseball Field and walked out with a 3-2 win, handing the Bears their first loss in district play.
When the rival teams first met on March 12, PSJA High won in dominant fashion, 20-4. This time, the Raiders were out to prove they’re much better than they showed through the first round of district.
“That score just gave us more motivation, because from our point of view, that should have never been the score,” PSJA North pitcher Damian Rodriguez said. “We’ve always known we were a better team for a score to be like that and we proved it Friday. Taking down the undefeated Bears, especially at their house, that gives us a lot of motivation.”
Rodriguez helped the Raiders get revenge on their rival as the senior pitched seven innings and allowed just six hits and two earned runs while striking out three. The two runs from the Bears was PSJA High’s lowest scoring output since March 7.
Raider shortstop Ricky Suarez, one of six returning starting seniors on the PSJA North roster, said their group was determined to get a win over then RGVSports.com’s No. 1 ranked team.
“We have a senior ball club and we wanted to go out there, just have fun and get the ‘W,’ so we can finish the year saying that we beat the PSJA Bears,” Suarez said after driving in a run against the Bears. “We just went out there, gave it our all, played Raider baseball and got the ‘W.’”
The win improved the Raiders to 13-11-1 on the year, 6-3 in district play, and into the third spot in the 30-6A standings.
While the Raiders may be in fine shape with a 6-3 record in district, it wasn’t always looking good. PSJA North was 1-2 after three games, dropping back-to-back outings to PSJA High and McAllen Rowe.
Since that point, the Raiders have turned things around and won five of the six, with the only loss at the hands of McAllen High.
“Hopefully we start peaking, and it seems like we’re coming around in the latter part of the season, that it continues to show their effort and improvement,” PSJA North coach Rene Soza said. “Hopefully, we’re looking playoff-bound and we got to stay together and believe in each other. Everybody’s got a role and responsibility, and it seems like they’re starting to understand the concept of what they have to do for the team.”
Soza said the biggest key to the turnaround has been its pitching. PSJA North rolls out three seniors as part of the Raiders’ rotation in Rodriguez, Suarez and Jaycob Gongora, who have found their groove on the mound as of late.
“When they have their moments and when they’re focused, you can expect a lot out of them and Damian wanted the ball (against PSJA High). Seeing their mental part, when they’re on, they’re on,” Soza said.
PSJA North has another chance to avenge a district loss at 7 tonight as they travel to take on McAllen Rowe, which beat the Raiders 5-1 in the first meeting.
“We got to go in with the same mentality that we did for PSJA Bears. We got to go in there motivated and wanting to get the win and keep winning until we get that playoff spot, so that’s what we’re going to keep doing,” Suarez said.