BY BRYAN RAMOS | STAFF WRITER
MCALLEN – The PSJA High Bears and McAllen Bulldogs battled in the area round of last year’s playoffs, resulting in McHi taking a 2-1 series win, putting an end to the Bears’ season.
It’s safe to say PSJA High didn’t forget.
The Bears used the extra motivation to bang up the Bulldogs 13-3 in five innings Friday night in their first meeting in the new-look District 30-6A.
Bears shortstop Ariben Gutierrez said it wasn’t difficult getting up for this matchup.
“Definitely last year’s playoff series, we definitely feel like we should have won that,” Gutierrez said. “Game 1 we slipped up, Game 2 and 3 were at our house, and we shouldn’t lose at home. We used that as motivation today. We knew it was at their house, so we came out even stronger.”
The Bears were at their strongest in the top of the third inning as they were down 2-0 when Cesar Cantu walked to get on base, setting up Gutierrez to bring him in for PSJA High’s first run. But they weren’t close to finished. The Bears went on to rip off eight more runs in the frame with RBIs from Trey Guajardo, Juan Zambrano, Noah Herrera and another by Guajardo to put PSJA High up 9-2.
PSJA High coach Marco Guajardo said he knew his guys were ready as they approached him throughout the day, fired up to take the field against the Bulldogs.
“I knew they were going to be ready to come out and play today. They came out with a certain intensity and they’ve been talking about this game,” Marco Guajardo said. “I was just trying to get them focused and not looking over the other teams. All day today they were coming to me saying they want this game over there. They were just fired up for it.”
The Bears ended up 10-run ruling the Bulldogs with a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth innings for the 13-3 victory.
McAllen High coach Eliseo Pompa chose to stick with starter Chris Bernal on the mound through the Bulldogs’ tough third inning as he wound up throwing nearly 70 pitches in the frame, surrendering nine runs, seven hits and four walks. Bernal finished with 96 pitches in three innings.
Pompa said he was ready to make a move between innings, but the Bulldogs couldn’t get the final out to stop the bleeding, and the inability to get a thorough practice in during the week due to weather showed.
“We just couldn’t turn the water off when they scored those nine runs. It deflated our bubble real quick. We were waiting for an out but an out never came, that’s the way baseball is,” Pompa said. “Our kids never hung their heads. They kept battling, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Aaron Nixon was unavailable to pitch for the Bulldogs due to pitching against McAllen Memorial on Thursday. Nixon had a solid day at the plate, however, going 2 for 2 with an RBI and a walk. Elijia West accounted for McHi’s other run as the first basemen went 3 for 3 with an RBI.
PSJA pitcher Eziquel Marroquin allowed two runs in the first two innings, but was dominant after that as he struck out 10 McHi batters. He relied on his curveball and mixed in his fastball to hold a lethal Bulldog lineup to just two earned runs.
“As a team, we just wanted to come out hard because they beat us at home in the playoffs, so we just gave it our all,” Marroquin said. “Our confidence right now is real high and we’re trying to go for that district championship.”
PSJA High’s Herrera finished 1 for 3 with four RBIs, Trey Guajardo went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and Zambrano drove in three runs on two hits.
The win sends the Bears to 15-4-1 on the year and 5-0 in district. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs fell to 3-2 in 30-6A and 16-5-1 overall.