By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Pace wasted no time getting its bats going against Mercedes, but unfortunately it wouldn’t be enough in the end.
The Vikings let an early lead slip away and didn’t have enough offensive firepower to match the Tigers who exploded for 10 runs during the last two innings to pull off the comeback, 13-10, in a District 32-5A game Thursday at Pace.
“I think offensively we took our foot off the pedal and we started coasting … you cannot do that, you can’t take any team for granted,” Pace coach Roy Rodriguez said. “We started fast, but we have to keep going and scoring and if not they’re going to creep up and beat us and that’s what happened (Thursday).
“My hats off to (Mercedes), they battled back.”
Through four innings Pace held a 7-2 lead, but Mercedes (1-2 in District 32-5A) was about to get the bats going. The Tigers rallied with 11 runs, including 10 in the sixth and seventh innings to complete their comeback and stun the Vikings (1-2).
An RBI single by Jay Garcia got Mercedes within four runs in the fifth inning, but the last two innings were a different story. The Tigers knocked out Pace starter Leo Villarreal in the sixth and Jose Banda came in for relief, but faced a tough task with the bases loaded and no outs. Josh Rodriguez, Ale Cabrera and Garcia all had RBI singles and Mando Reyes drew a bases loaded walk. Mercedes got another run after a passed ball and turned the deficit into an 8-7 lead.
Pace tied it at 8 with an RBI single by Jose Ramirez, but the Tigers weren’t finished yet.
Two singles and a hits batsman loaded the bases in the top of the seventh and Cabrera got a base clearing triple. Two batters later, he scored on an RBI single by Reyes, who eventually scored on another passed ball for a 13-8 advantage.
“We just got lucky,” Mercedes coach Armando Reyes said. “The kids were being patient. We have to manufacture runs, we’re not an overpowering team, so we’re going to try to play small ball and try to be aggressive on the bases. That was our philosophy, our mindset going in. Fortunately, we had some things go our way, got a couple key hits with runners on and I think that sparked the energy with the kids and gave them confidence to hit the ball.”
Trey Davila had a two-run double to get the Vikings within three runs, but that’s all Pace would get as Mercedes got a ground ball to end a wild game and earn its first district win of the season.
Davila finished 3 for 5 with a double, a run scored and six RBIs, but it wouldn’t be enough in this one for the Vikings.
J.P. Luna earned the win for the Tigers after pitching 5 1/3 innings in relief and allowed four runs on five hits, walked two and struck out five, but had three hits batsmen.
Cabrera finished with four RBIs, Garcia had three RBIs and Josh Rodriguez scored four runs for Mercedes.
Banda took the loss for Pace after coming in to relieve Villarreal in the sixth. Banda was roughed up, allowing seven runs on seven hits, walked two and struck out three, but also had a hits batsman.
It was a very different game early on. Mercedes took a 1-0 lead in the first inning after it scored a run on a wild pitch.
Pace didn’t trail very long after getting going in the bottom half of the first. Davila drove in two runs with a single to left and a few batters later, Austin Sulewski added an RBI double to take a 3-1 lead.
The Vikings kept up the production in the second inning as Davila had another two-run single and Villarreal had an RBI single to give them a 6-1 advantage.
The Tigers got one back in the third inning on an RBI double by Garcia, but still trailed 6-2.
Pace added another run on a ground-rule double by Angel Gomez to take a 7-2 edge, but Mercedes gained the momentum with its late rally to earn the victory.
Reyes was happy to get the first victory in district play.
“It’s a confidence booster, but this is the type of game you’re going to see in this district,” he said. “Everyone can beat anyone on any given night. The teams that come out with the most energy and make the fewest mistakes are the ones who are going to win.”
Pace was ready to move forward, but hopefully take with it some knowledge.
“These games are going to be like this, nail biters, close-knit games and that’s the beauty of games in this district, it’s very competitive,” Roy Rodriguez said. “We can’t relax. We have to move on and let it be a learning experience … learn what we did wrong and don’t let it happen again. We’ll regroup.”
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.