BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — McAllen High junior pitcher Abanny Garcia just about beat Edinburg North by himself.
In Game 1 of a Class 6A area round series, Garcia threw a five-inning shutout and went 4 for 4 with a three-run home run. The Bulldogs won 10-0 in five innings on Friday at Ted Uhlaender field.
Garcia allowed one hit and fanned eight batters in 69 pitches. That wasn’t even Garcia at his best.
“When I first got out there, I felt a little tired,” Garcia said. “My arm was hurting a little bit. I adjusted, and I was fine.”
Whatever he was feeling, it never showed. He grabbed the ball in the top of the first and struck out the first three batters in 13 pitches.
The story of the game for Edinburg North was errors.
“We just made too many mistakes,” North coach Damian Gonzalez said. “We gave them the first six runs. They were all unearned. We just didn’t make the plays. They are a good ballclub. They hit the ball, and defensively they are awesome.”
In the first, senior Victor Valdez walked, and Garcia hit a single to move Valdez to second. Freshman Aaron Nixon struck out, but on strike three North senior catcher Saul Garza rifled the ball down to first. The throw beat courtesy runner senior Andrew Sanchez, but sophomore first baseman Marc Esquivel couldn’t corral the ball and it went off into right field. Valdez motored around the bases and made it home without a throw.
In the fourth, McAllen High sophomore Rigo Moreno hit a dribbler back to the mound. North pitcher Giancarlo Servin fielded it cleanly and turned to make the throw to second to start a double play. The player covering the bag couldn’t handle the throw, and again the ball went rolling out into the outfield. The Bulldogs had the top of the order up after that and got rolling, scoring five runs in total in the inning.
During the second and third innings, senior second baseman Luis Keola Zamora flashed the leather with two impressive plays. In the second he robbed leadoff hitter Servin of a hit with a beautiful sliding stop and a great throw from his knees that beat Servin to the base. He made a similar play to end the third inning. This time his victim was junior Joseph Muñoz.
“It definitely got us some momentum,” Zamora said. “We (the defense) have Abanny’s back. We always tell him, ‘We have your back no matter what. Just throw your game, and we’ll take care of the rest.’”
Thanks in part to that stellar leatherwork, Garcia had a great day on the mound. But he might have had an even better day at the plate, notching a hit in all four at-bats and smashing a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth.
“Abanny is great,” Zamora said. “He did exceptional. There are no words to explain how great of a player he is.”
He’s so great, in fact, that he’s a tad bit predictable. In the fifth inning, as he was walking to the plate, he heard a teammate shouting from the bench.
“The bullpen catcher said, ‘Give him the pitch right there, and he’s going to hit a home run,’” Garcia said. “I didn’t think it was going to go out, but then it cleared the fence. It’s a good feeling when you hit a ball hard like that.”
With the possibility of the next two games on Edinburg North’s home field, the series is far from over.
“We have been here before,” Gonzalez said. “A few years ago, we dropped Game 1 to Nikki Rowe, and we came back and won 2 and 3 at their place. We have to get ready to go, come back tomorrow, and take care of 2, and then we have to take care of Game 3.”
Game 2 is 4 p.m. tonight at Edinburg North. If needed, Game 3 will be played 30 minutes after.
McAllen High wants to make sure Game 3 is not needed.
“We are going to be aggressive at the plate, have good pitching and good defense,” Garcia said. “We go up there with that mentality of, get one game, and we are out of there.”