BY BRYAN RAMOS | STAFF WRITER
MCALLEN — The new-look District 30-6A is a lot tougher this season compared to last, but it was the same old Bulldogs on Tuesday night as McAllen High rolled over McAllen Rowe 11-1 in the district opener in five innings at McAllen Rowe High School.
Junior Elijia West fell a triple short of hitting for the cycle as he led McHi with five RBIs on the night, including three in the first two innings.
“We knew it was our rivalry school, so we all wanted to come out strong and ready to go,” West said. “I think we all did good. We were all making solid contact, putting the ball in play. We just got on base and scored runs. We all work hard to get everyone in.”
The Bulldogs exploded for seven runs in the second inning, which was helped by two McAllen Rowe errors.
“For us, it’s the start of a new season, which is the district season,” McAllen High coach Eliseo Pompa said. “We’re in a very tough district and we had to come out ready to play and I think my kids were ready. We played well in Corpus (Calallen Tournament), we didn’t hit too well with men on base, but today we did.”
Aaron Nixon got the job done on the mound for the Bulldogs as he racked up 12 strikeouts while facing 18 batters.
Rowe center fielder Isaac Gallegos was able to end the no-hit bid with a double in the 4th inning, and an RBI by Christopher Reyna gave the Warriors their lone run to spoil the shutout.
“Honestly, our worst inning was there in the second,” McAllen Rowe coach Adrian Leal said. “We had to make six or seven outs to get three, but these guys never get down on each other. You hate to lose, but they showed they didn’t want to go home early, they want to score runs, they want to compete against a talented guy like that on the mound. They enjoy rising up to the challenge, and the more cuts we get, the more practices we get and the more games they get under their belt, it’s only going to make us better.”
McAllen High improves to 1-0 in district play and 10-2-1 on the year, while McAllen Rowe falls to 0-1 and 7-4 overall.
West said the district-opening win over a good Rowe team was big and puts the team on the right path.
“I think it’s very important because it gets our mindset right,” he said. “It lets us know that if we can play as a team, we can beat any team out here.”
Next up for McHi is the San Antonio Baseball Classic Thursday through Saturday. The Warriors move on to the ECISD All-American Classic this weekend in Edinburg.