DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — It was senior versus freshman, PSJA High right-hander Kike Rubio versus Edcouch-Elsa outfielder Joey Villalpando. It was the veteran-laden Bears against the upstart Yellowjackets, with their District 32-5A baseball opener on the line Tuesday night at PSJA High.
But with his team trailing by a run with two outs in the seventh inning, and the tying and winning runs on base, Villalpando bunted a dribbler to the right of Rubio, who raced to scoop it up and deliver the final out. PSJA High earned a 2-1 win, but Bears coach Marco Guajardo was left relieved while E-E coach Xavi Acosta was left wondering what might have been.
“I told the guys it’s not going to be easy in this district,” Guajardo said. “Everybody’s going to throw their best at us. But a ‘W’ is a ‘W’, and that’s all that matters to me. It got scary there, but we’ll be alright.”
The Bears (5-2-2), who received an RBI single from Rubio and RBI double from Christian Sanchez for their scoring, return six seniors from last year’s club, but all eyes are on the pitching. PSJA High graduated its top two pitchers and now the rotation is a four-man group between Troy Flores, Rubio, Andrew Castañeda and Christian Sanchez.
Flores started Tuesday’s game, but was relieved after walking the first two batters he faced in the seventh inning. Rubio came on, got Jarren Garcia to hit into a crucial double play and then fielded Villalpando’s bunt after Eddie Lopez reached base on an error and the Bears intentionally-walked Jacob Martinez.
“I want consistency,” said Guajardo, who added his four pitchers are “all about the same” and he is reluctant to name any as his No. 1 ace. “I don’t want to walk kids. I want them to hit their location. Troy was rattled today a bit, where he was falling behind, and he gave them a chance. If you give teams walks, that’s their opportunity.”
Flores pitched six innings, striking out seven, walking five and allowing four hits. He struggled with location early, hit a nice groove soon thereafter (striking out five of nine batters), but lost his control again late.
The win was a team effort, Flores said, and that’s how it will have to be for the Bears.
“We’re a confident group,” Flores said. “We have guys stepping up. We still have tough pitchers and I believe we still have the same amount of talent.”
The Yellowjackets were feisty and aggressive. Martinez, a junior, threw a strong game, allowing just five hits and not registering a walk. But they also missed opportunities.
Edcouch-Elsa stranded seven runners, five in scoring position.
“It’s part of us being young and part the other team’s pretty good,” Acosta said. “This time, you can say the experience won. We just weren’t able to execute, and that’s tough.”
Martinez took advantage of a Bears team that was anxious at the plate, swinging at almost anything at times and then striking out looking at others. But the clutch hitting didn’t come through, Acosta said, and the situational hitting was down.
Still, for a team that won all of nine games last season, Tuesday was a promising sign.
“Clutch hitting is tough to come by, but when you have good pitching and good defense you’ll be in the game,” Acosta said. “We had more runners in scoring position than they did, but they made great plays. We almost had it.”