DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — After graduating an All-Valley Player of the Year and with two sophomores in the rotation, La Joya Palmview baseball coach Rick Garcia had his eyes on his team’s arms coming into this season.
Just 11 games in, however, any questions he had seem to have been answered.
Sophomore right-hander Elias Ovalle shut down McAllen Rowe’s offense and the Lobos took advantage of a slew of Warrior errors in an 11-0 win in five innings Tuesday at La Joya Palmview in their District 30-6A affair.
Ovalle held the Warriors (9-3) to two hits while striking out six and walking five. His lineup returned the favor by scoring 11 runs on 10 hits, including a seven-run second inning in which Palmview scored three runs off three errors and another run off a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.
“We know we have a young pitcher out there, so we want to back him up whenever we can,” said senior Ernesto Garza, the team’s ace and clean-up hitter who contributed a three-run triple. “They made some mistakes and we capitalized. We knew we’d have to do that tonight.”
The Lobos, a senior ballclub with young pitching, improved to 3-0 in district. The Warriors, boasting a lineup of three sophomores and two freshmen, fell to 3-1.
After a clean first inning, Warriors pitching faced 13 batters in the second. The frame saw the removal of senior starting pitcher Ethan Ramirez (1.2 innings, four runs (three earned), five hits, one walk). Ramirez struggled hitting his spots, but he wasn’t the only one. Relief pitchers R.J. Gamboa and Abbany Garcia also struggled with location.
The third inning wasn’t better. The Lobos added four more runs, all with two outs.
“Every time we got a hit, their pitcher would hang his head,” Garza said. “He looked discouraged. We saw that and we fed off that.”
Overall, Rowe pitchers hit three batters, walked three and struck out three. All the strikeouts came n the fourth inning, courtesy of Garcia.
“Our pitcher got kind of tight and we just fell behind early,” Rowe coach Angel Perez said. “We made a few mistakes and we got rattled. Hopefully these kids just learn and grow a little bit. We’ll bounce back.”
Ovalle, meanwhile, looked more like an ace than a club’s No. 3 pitcher. He had Warriors hitters befuddled with a nice mix of fastballs and changeups. He threw strikes and used the plate liberally in improving to 1-1 and earning his first shutout of the season.
“I was consistent and we got the bats helping out,” Ovalle said. “That just gave me more confidence. We were in control and we worked their batters.”
Garcia knew what he had in Garza, the team’s No. 1 thrower who is 3-1 with a 2.62 ERA this season. But he did not know what he had in Ovalle and fellow sophomore Leo Perez (3-0, 0.00 ERA). So far, so good.
The Lobos (8-2-1) have not skipped a beat when Garza is not on the bump, and that’s what the team was hoping for.
“These guys don’t give up,” Garza said of his rotation mates. “They have a short memory — if they give up a hit, they’ll get back out there and be ready for the next pitch. That’s big for young pitchers.
“You don’t replace an All-Valley guy like Chris Rocha. Now it’s on me, it’s on other guys. It’s got to be a team effort now. We’re coming around slowly but surely. We’re just taking things slow.”