McALLEN — McAllen High and La Joya Palmview entered the seventh inning of Game 3 of their area round playoff series tied at one run apiece.
The Bulldogs loaded the bases in the home half of the seventh and third baseman Max Villarreal drilled a ball to deep left center with two outs to bring in the game-winning run for a 2-1 walk-off victory Saturday at McAllen High School to win the best-of-three series 2-1.
The Bulldogs (22-13) will meet McAllen Memorial in next week’s Class 5A regional quarterfinal in a third round playoff matchup of crosstown rivals. Game details are to be determined. La Joya Palmview’s season ends at 28-5-1 overall.
“The last two or three weeks, we’ve started to peak offensively and defensively. It’s been like a roller coaster, but it’s going up, and I’m real proud of the way the kids hung in there,” McHi head coach Eliseo Pompa said. “You’re the home team, you get two men on base, you know you got a chance. When you have the bases loaded and there’s two outs, you start thinking we need a big hit, and with two strikes, what can you ask for from a 17-18 year old kid? Max just came through and he’s done it for us all year. We played a great team in Palmview with great kids and great coaches. It was a heck of a series.”
Palmview drew first blood on an inside the park home run to right field by Joseph Martinez to lead off the top of the third inning.
McHi’s Zata Zaragosa tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI single on a hard grounder to left field in the bottom of the fourth.
Martinez, who was also on the bump for the Lobos, pitched 6 2/3 innings allowing two runs, none earned, off five hits and five walks while striking out five.
McHi pitcher Fernie Olivarez matched him with a strong outing for the Bulldogs with one earned run off three hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Eric Alonzo entered in the top of the seventh and picked up the win with a pair of strikeouts to end the frame.
That led to Villarreal stepping up in a big way with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, sending McHi into Round 3 for the first time since 2018.
“We had to fight. We had to have the desire to win, never gave up, kept our heads up and fought hard,” Villarreal said. “I just wanted to stay calm and composed in that situation. Stay calm and have your trust in God.”
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