By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
EDINBURG — The baseball season came to an all-too-soon finish for the Los Fresnos Falcons on Friday.
The Laredo Alexander Bulldogs eliminated Los Fresnos from the Class 6A playoffs by defeating the Falcons 3-1 in Friday’s Game 2 to sweep the two teams’ best-of-three, area-round series at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley Baseball Stadium.
The District 29-6A champion Bulldogs (22-7) opened the series with Thursday’s 3-2 come-from-behind victory against the District 32-6A runner-up Falcons (23-6) at the UTRGV ballpark.
Alexander advances to the coming week’s third round of the 6A playoffs to play Edinburg High, a one-game, 10-run rule winner against Del Rio in another area-round matchup Friday.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Los Fresnos coach Rene Morales said. “They battled hard and did everything we asked of them. That’s all you can ask of the ones who play for you. They did a great job.”
The Falcons went up 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning when J.J. Sanchez hit into an infield play that caused him to be thrown out at first base for the second out of the frame. Also on the play, Mark Cortinas was able to come home from third base.
The Bulldogs, three-time 29-6A champions who advanced to the UIL state tournament last season, evened the score in the top of the third thanks to Sergio Macias’ RBI single to left field.
The game stayed tied until the top of the sixth when Alexander’s Aldo Buendia singled to left to plate a teammate from second base, giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 advantage.
Alexander made it 3-1 in the top of the seventh when Gabriel Perez hit into an infield sacrifice play for a put-out at first, but it enabled a run to come home from third.
“We’ve been preaching good pitching and playing solid defense all year long, and we pretty much got it in both games in this series,” Alexander coach Fernando Lemus said. “We did commit some errors tonight, which was kind of uncharacteristic for us, but we battled through it. We know our pitching is always going to keep us in the game, so we just have to be patient and look for those timely hits.”
Macias went the distance for the victory on the mound, tossing a one-hitter with eight strikeouts and one walk. Los Fresnos’ lone hit was a single to right field by Cortinas with one out in the seventh. The Bulldogs then turned a double play to end the game and sweep the series.
Alexander finished with five hits, all singles by five different batters. The Bulldogs committed three errors, while Los Fresnos made two.
Sanchez was the losing pitcher. He was relieved by Cristian Hernandez after giving up a walk to start the top of the seventh. Sanchez had eight strikeouts with five walks and two hit batsmen.
The game was halted briefly in the bottom of the seventh, just after Cortinas’ single to right, when the sprinkler system automatically turned on, spraying the players and umpire at the plate and those in the infield. The situation was quickly resolved and only served to momentarily delay the final outcome.
“Alexander hit the ball when they had to, and they grinded (out their runs) with what they did at the plate,” Morales said. “That’s why they’re a good ballclub.”
Lemus said the Falcons were a worthy opponent.
“This was a tight series,” the Alexander coach said. “Los Fresnos has a very good, young ballclub. We were real impressed with the way they carried themselves and the way they performed. A lot of credit goes to their pitchers and the team in general, really.”