By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
With the game tied at 1, Lopez’s Alex Olguin just needed a chance in his final at-bat against Donna North.
The senior came through with a walk-off single to drive in the winning run in the Lobos 2-1 victory over the Chiefs in a District 32-5A game Tuesday at Lopez.
“I was just trying to do my job,” Olguin said. “I was crowding the plate, so I moved back a little bit and the ball found the barrel.”
Olguin came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with two on and two out after Ivan Banuelos reached on an error and Jose Rodriguez followed with a single. Olguin got his pitch and drove it to center field over a pulled in outfield as Banuelos crossed the plate for the game-winner to give Lopez a 2-0 start in District 32-5A and Donna North drops to 0-2 in district play.
“We always rely on Alex on the mound or with the bat and 9 out of 10 times he comes through,” Lopez coach Victor Martinez said. “This time around he came through.”
It was a pitcher’s duel early as Olguin was on the mound for the Lobos and the Chiefs countered with southpaw Orlando Hernandez. Olguin made the first mistake as Gerry Sanchez came through with a two-out single. Next batter Ryan Pequeno was hit by a pitch and Sergio Canales followed with an RBI single to left that gave Donna North a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Unfortunately, that’s the only run it would get.
“We put the ball in play, but just right at them,” Donna North coach Leroy Rodriguez said. “If we find a hole one of those times, we probably score and take the lead. I told the team we have to be aggressive, (Olguin) is one of the better pitchers in the district. We tried to get an early run or two, but hat’s off to (Olguin) he did a good job … my guy threw a helluva game, too.
“It’s just unfortunate, somebody has to win and somebody has to loss and we came up just short. That’s the way it is.”
The Chiefs would keep the lead until Lopez got going in the bottom half of the fifth inning. An error gave the Lobos a baserunner and an RBI single by Jose Rodriguez to center tied it at 1.
“The second or third time through the order we felt a lot better,” Martinez said. “We started making contact and I give Donna North credit, they were making the routine plays … it was just a matter of time. I’m glad our kids stayed focused and stayed within their approach to get quality at-bats and I’m glad we could finish the job.”
Olguin and Hernandez continued to keep the hitters at bay until the bottom of the seventh. Olguin, who had drawn an intentional walk the previous at-bat, got a chance to hit and he came through and drove a pitch to center that sealed the win for Lopez.
“We didn’t want the bases loaded and get a passed ball or a balk brings one in … they have to go out and earn it,” Leroy Rodriguez said of his decision to pitch to Olguin. “(Hernandez) threw a curve ball and we wanted it away but he threw it down the middle and you saw what happened. He’s a good hitter and I wanted to play the percentages … he did what good hitters do.”
Olguin went 1 for 3 at the plate with a walk and an RBI; on the mound he threw a complete game and allowed just one run on five scattered hits, walked none and struck out four with a pair of hits batsmen.
“It feels awesome,” he said. “I told the guys to keep fighting and just give me one run … that’s all I need. That’s what they did and I backed them up on the mound. It means a lot, it’s our goal to get a district title … we just have to take one game at a time.”
Hernandez pitched nearly as well in the loss; he also went the distance and allowed two runs on five hits, walked one and struck out eight for Donna North.
“No one wants to start 0-2 in district, but I think this is an encouraging sign,” Leroy Rodriguez said. “We played good defense, we were aggressive with the bats and I told them we’ll get some hits to fall and score more runs. Hopefully we can bounce back on Thursday against Porter and get that first district win.”
For Lopez, this marks the second straight district game ithad to come back after an early deficit.
“The character of our team … we never give up,” Martinez said. “That’s something very special with our team. No matter what the score is or what inning it is, we’re never going to give up and we play a full game.”
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.