By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — Abel Rodriguez and Los Fresnos got its bats going early against Harlingen High.
Trailing 1-0, Rodriguez had a two-run single to give the Falcons the lead during a four-run second inning and they used that momentum to propel them to a 9-1 victory over the Cardinals in a District 32-6A game Tuesday.
The run-scoring single sparked the Los Fresnos’ offense as George Villafranca followed with his own RBI-single and the Falcons erased a 1-0 deficit with a four-run output for a 4-1 lead in the second.
“It gave us motivation and pumped us up,” Rodriguez said. “It fired the whole team up. Everything came after that and that’s what we needed.
Rodriguez finished with a pair of hits and two RBI’s and Villafranca had two hits, two RBIs, walked twice and scored a run for Los Fresnos.
“It was important to get going early, hit the ball, put it in play,” Los Fresnos coach Rene Morales said of the offensive output, unlike the pitchers’ duel against Hanna on Thursday that yielded just a run and five hits in a 1-0 win. The kids were more focused (Tuesday). The last couple week’s we’ve been focused and ready to go.
“The kids are playing team ball.”
The early offense was more than enough for Cristian Hernandez, who went the distance and allowed just one run on six hits, walked one and struck out 10 for the Falcons in the crucial District 32-6A game.
The win gives Los Fresnos (10-2 in District 32-6A) the upper hand in district play as it inched closer to at least a share of the district crown. The Falcons avenged an earlier loss to Harlingen High (9-3), who falls back with the loss, but still in the postseason mix with two games left to play.
After Harlingen High started the game with a 1-0 lead after an RBI-single by Isaias Ibarra, Los Fresnos broke out the bats.
“We put ourselves in a bad situations,” Harlingen High coach Bryan Aughney said of his teams’ offense and defensively. “When they had the opportunities, they cashed in the runs. Those little things that we work on weekly in practice really come to bite you against a good team like Los Fresnos. It boils down to the second inning … we made things really difficult on ourselves.”
The Falcons weren’t finished after the four-run second. They scored three more times in the third inning, which included RBI-singles by Miguel Gonzalez and Villafranca came through again as Los Fresnos built a 7-1 edge and knocked out Harlingen High starter Justin Reta.
Reta pitched just 3 1/3 innings, allowed five runs on five hits, walked three and struck out one for the Cardinals. Harlingen High’s defense had its struggles with four errors on the evening.
The Falcons added a pair of runs in the fifth inning as Joseph Munoz hit a triple to deep right center that scored Gonzalez and Villafranca to give them a 9-1 advantage.
Munoz also finished with a pair of hits and a couple RBIs on the evening for Los Fresnos that banged out 11 hits, drew five walks and struck out just twice.
Aughney was disappointed and told his team they have to play better to secure a postseason berth.
“Our mentality has to be better,” he said. “We have to put ourselves in a playoff mentality. If we want to extend our season, we have to take care of things that we can take care of. It’s disappointing. If we play great and we lose … we still played great, but we didn’t play good, we didn’t play good at all. We have to be better mentally.”
Even with the district lead, the Falcons are focused on only the next game.
“We have to play every game like its our last,” Rodriguez said. “We have to not think about the standings or anything else, we just have to play for each other.”
Morales was happy for the win, but reiterated his constant message.
“It feels good, but the kids know what’s at stake every time we play,” he said. “We always stress the next game is the most important and we’ll go from there.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.