MISSION — Sharyland Pioneer completed the comeback in its Region IV-5A bi-district playoff series against Harlingen South with a 10-0 win in five innings in Game 3 on Saturday at Sharyland Pioneer High School.
The Hawks (21-11) defeated the Diamondbacks 6-4 in Game 1 on Thursday before the Diamondbacks (26-6-1) bounced back in Game 2 7-1 on Friday. Pioneer’s Game 3 victory gave them the series win 2-1 and a spot in the area round of the playoffs next week.
The Diamondbacks will face La Joya Palmview in Round 2.
| Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks Bryan Ramos |
“I’m extremely proud of these young men because they showed a lot of perseverance, showed a lot of character in bouncing back from Game 1 and dealing with adversity,” Pioneer head coach Adrian Leal said. “I told them the theme of the week would be ‘survive and advance’, and I didn’t know that it was going to come into fruition so quickly like it did in Game 1, but that was our theme for the week. That’s the only thing we had in our mind. (Harlingen South head coach Bryan) Augney does a heck of a job. He’s got a heck of a team over there and they play the right way and play with heart, so I want to tip my hat off to Coach Aughney and his group over there.”
Pioneer pitcher Isaac Lopez surrendered just two hits across five innings, striking out four.
Andy Chapa led the Diamondbacks offensively with a 3-for-3 day with three runs and two RBIs. Diego Chapa went 1-for-2 with three RBIs and Santiago Ortiz drove in two and scored twice on 1-for-2 hitting. David Benitez finished 2-for-4 with two runs.
Harlingen South finishes its season under first-year head coach Bryan Aughney 21-11 overall and with the program’s first playoff appearance since 2019.
“I really appreciate my guys. I love each and everyone of them and our two seniors that were everyday guys John Castellanos playing multiple positions for us and Desmond Cano in center field did an outstanding job,” Aughney said. “I just really appreciate our guys for coming in and being willing to do things different. We have a standard and expectation we want to practice with everyday and it’s got to continue and hopefully that’s the message to our young guys — we’re here to work our tails off and we want to get ourselves in that talk of making deep playoff runs because that’s what it’s all about.”
CLASS 6A
GAME 2 – BROWNSVILLE RIVERA 1, LA JOYA HIGH 0: At La Villa, the Raiders held off the Coyotes to earn a sweep in their Region IV-6A bi-district series Saturday at La Villa High School.
| Brownsville Rivera Raiders Courtesy Photo |
Rivera’s Nathan Alvear pitched a complete game shutout with seven strikeouts, four hits and three walks.
A home run by Andres Rocha during the fourth inning proved to be enough to secure the victory for the Raiders.
Brownsville Rivera (23-14) advances to the area round to face the winner of Eagle Pass and San Antonio Harlan.
CLASS 5A
GAME 2 – EDINBURG VELA 3, BROWNSVILLE VETERANS 1: At Edinburg, the SaberCats swept the Chargers to earn their place in the area round of the playoffs with a tight victory on Saturday at Edinburg Economedes High School.
| Edinburg Vela SaberCats Courtesy Photo |
Edinburg Vela pitcher Jake Dufner pitched a complete game with four strikeouts, seven hits, no walks and no earned runs.
The SaberCats struck first with an RBI single by Dufner during the bottom of the first. The Chargers evened the score with an RBI single by Juan Garcia during the top of the fourth.
Vela broke the 1-1 tie with a Justin Navarro run on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Jayden Martinez during the bottom of the fifth for the 3-1 final.
Edinburg Vela (23-10) will meet Corpus Christi Veterans (27-6-1) in the area round. Corpus Christi Veterans swept Roma 2-0 in their bi-district playoff series with wins of 10-0 and 2-1.
GAME 2 – LA JOYA PALMVIEW 3, CORPUS CHRISTI KING 2, 10 INNINGS: At Laredo, the Palmview Lobos won their Region IV-5A bi-district playoff series with a walk-off single by Mateo Garcia in the bottom of the 10th inning to qualify for next week’s area round.
| La Joya Palmview Lobos Courtesy Photo |
The Lobos won Game 1 9-5 on Friday and were locked in a battle against a King team with its back against the wall in Game 2.
Palmview (25-7) powered through, however, as Renzo Tamez and Josiah Gonzalez drove in one run each during the third and fourth innings for a 2-1 lead. King responded in the sixth and the two remained deadlocked until the 10th inning.
The Lobos loaded the bases with a single by Ezie Puente, an Anakin Robles bunt and an intentional walk of Joe Cerda. That set up Garcia to knock in the game-winning run with a single to left field.
Puente pitched 6.2 innings and held King to two runs off six hits and four walks, striking out six. Chris Perez pitched the final 3.1 innings and allowed just one hit with two strikeouts.
The Lobos are now headed to an area round playoff matchup against Sharyland Pioneer. Game details are to be determined.
GAME 3 – SHARYLAND HIGH 12, EDCOUCH-ELSA 6: At Edcouch, the Rattlers fought back from an early 5-1 deficit Saturday to push past the Yellow Jackets and win their Region IV-5A bi-district playoff series 2-1.
| Sharyland High Rattlers Courtesy Photo |
Sharyland High’s Diego Diaz hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning to break a 6-6 tie and give his Rattlers (23-5) the lead. The one-run advantage carried into the top of the seventh when Sharyland put up a five-spot with a Cole Gerlach RBI single, an Alejandro Islas two-run homer, a Fabrizio Salinas RBI single and another run on an error.
Sharyland High moves on to face Corpus Christi Carroll in the area round. The Carroll Tigers swept Rio Grande City in their bi-district series with wins of 10-0 and 12-6. Game details are to be determined.