TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
McALLEN — The La Joya High Coyotes scored eight runs in the sixth inning and added two more in the seventh to finally pull away from feisty McAllen Rowe 17-12 on Friday night. With the win, the Coyotes clinch a playoff spot.
The marathon game, nearly four hours long, had a little bit of everything: umpire uncertainty, a La Joya player who took himself out of the game, a home run, six pitchers, sick players, and enough errors to make a peewee player blush.
Theatrics aside, the drama that mattered most for the visiting Coyotes was coming back — twice — to get the precious victory and move into the postseason. All La Joya coach Mario Flores could say after the game was how happy he was that his team persevered in what might as well have been a playoff game.
“This is my first year coaching, and this game was intense,” Flores said. “I am just proud of my guys and how they came back despite little issues we had earlier.”
Although they fell behind 6-2 after four innings of play, the game was only just beginning for the Coyotes (7-4, 11-11). All nine batters went to the plate in a five-run fifth, and then La Joya High batted around the order plus two in the sixth to score seven more runs. The Coyotes added two more insurance runs in the seventh inning to finally put Rowe away.
The Coyotes piled up 15 hits and were led by center fielder Oscar Flores’ 3 for 4 night with one RBI, which was the home run. Designated hitter Julian Castillo also went 3 for 4, notched 2 RBIs and scored three times. Rowe helped La Joya’s offensive output with multiple errors and at least a half dozen passed balls. Jonathan Martinez pitched the first four innings for La Joya, and Luis Rincon had the next three.
The game was interrupted an unusual amount of times. There were the typical breaks for pitching changes, but then there were timeouts for a sick La Joya player on the field, two very long conferences by the umpires to discuss calls and then another lengthy break when La Joya was forced to insert a new catcher after the starter left the field on his own.
Despite the loose play, McAllen Rowe also turned in some highlight offensive performances, continuing to score in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and showing no signs of quit. Adrian Bernal went 2 for 4 with a triple and an RBI, while Trey Prado walked three times and scored three runs.