BY KEVIN LU | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
La Joya High’s baseball team jumped on mistakes by McAllen Rowe to beat the Warriors 7-4 on the road Friday night.
The Coyotes clinch a playoff spot and (13-8, 7-4) now trail only Palmview in District 30-6A with one game left in the season.
“We started kind of slow at the beginning of the year, we were tied for last,” La Joya coach Reuben Farias said of his team’s 0-3 start in district play. “We’re fortunate that we’re there. Hopefully things will continue.”
Rowe (13-6, 7-5) starting pitcher Robbie Partida had command troubles to begin the game, as he hit three batters in the first inning but escaped allowing just one run. The Warriors’ defenders behind him didn’t allow him to make it through the third inning, as four errors led to a six-run frame for La Joya. The Coyotes sent 11 batters to the plate, including Ryan Lopez and Damien Leal, who both hit consecutive run-scoring singles on the way to a 7-0 La Joya lead.
Partida got Rowe on the scoreboard in the fourth inning, launching a solo home run over the left-field wall to pull the Warriors to within 7-1. The La Joya defense had its own four-error inning in the sixth, which led to three runs and allowed Rowe to pull within 7-4. Partida scored his second run of the game, and finished two for three with an RBI.
La Joya minimized the damage from five errors by its defense because of pitcher Anibal Leal. The junior wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and pitched out of defensive issues in the sixth on the way to a complete-game victory.
He threw 81 pitches, allowed the lone earned run on Partida’s long ball and struck out four batters.
“He’s one of the hitters, leader, pitcher that puts a lot on the plate,” Farias said of Leal. “When things started going down, Anibal settled down.”
La Joya will wrap up its season at home against Juarez-Lincoln on Tuesday, “an opponent that’s given us fits in the past,” Farias said.
“We can’t take them lightly. … After this emotional win, we’ve just got to get ready.”