SAN JUAN — Los Fresnos and PSJA High both won district titles in 2022. The Bears and Falcons are yet to start district play this season, so the two 6A powers came together for a non-district matchup, with PSJA High earning a 4-2 victory Tuesday at PSJA High School.
The Bears improve to 11-5 overall and the Falcons drop to 14-6 on the year.
“I had already told the kids it was going to be like a playoff atmosphere. (Los Fresnos) will be fighting for the district championship over there, we’ll be fighting for a district championship here, so it’s going to be a good rivalry, non-district game,” PSJA head coach Marco Guajardo said. “They threw one of their best guys, we threw one of our best guys, so it was electric and a good atmosphere and something we needed to see, being in a close game against these guys.”
PSJA senior catcher and UTRGV commit Julius Ramirez bats second in the Bears’ lineup. During the first inning, he grounded out to shortstop on the first pitch he saw.
His next at-bat came during the third inning, and he sent the first pitch he saw over the left-field fence of C.V. Cain Baseball Field to put the Bears in front 3-2 with what turned out to be the game-winning run.
“My first at-bat, I got basically the same pitch and I got a little bit on top of it. Once I was expecting fastball, kind of came up with a little hanger and I was being aggressive and I like to swing, so I got it,” Ramirez said.
| PSJA High’s Julius Ramirez (99) is congratulations at home plate after hitting a single home run in the third against Los Fresnos in a game at PSJA High School on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in San Juan. (Joel Martinez | [email protected]) Joel Martinez |
PSJA shortstop Jaime Lopez added an RBI single during the third to build the 4-2 advantage for the final margin.
Derek Garcia led the Falcons offensively with a single during the first inning and an RBI double during the third that bounced off the wall in center field to score Alejandro Rodriguez from second to tie the game at 2.
Garcia finished 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Josh Munoz was the only other Falcons player to record a hit, going 1-for-3.
| Los Fresnos’ Josh Munoz (23) pitches against PSJA High in a game at PSJA High School on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in San Juan. (Joel Martinez | [email protected]) Joel Martinez |
PSJA’s Vinny Cano picked up the win, allowing one earned run off six walks and two hits, striking out seven in six innings. Charlie Zamaripa earned the save with two hits and one strikeout in a scoreless seventh inning. Cano also went 2-for-2 at the plate.
| PSJA High’s Vinny Cano (24) pitches against Los Fresnos in a game at PSJA High School on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in San Juan. (Joel Martinez | [email protected]) Joel Martinez |
PSJA High and Los Fresnos both move on for another non-district game as 31-6A and 32-6A squads go head-to-head. The Bears will travel to Harlingen to face the Cardinals at 6:30 p.m. at Harlingen High School. The Falcons will play host to Mission High at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Los Fresnos High School.