MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
WESLACO — It was like night and day for the Santa Rosa Warriors in Saturday’s playoff doubleheader.
After being forced into a Game 3 following a 17-4 thumping at the hands of the Kingsville Academy Lions, the Warriors were once again in a big hole after one inning, this time facing elimination.
That’s when the Warriors had enough and scored nine runs over the next three innings on their way to a 10-7 Game 3 win, clinching their best-of-three Class 3A bi-district series over the Lions.
The Warriors advance to face Odem later this week, despite being behind by at least four runs in all three games.
They trailed 4-0 in Game 1 on Friday night in Bishop before winning 8-4.
“All season long I’ve told the kids that baseball is seven innings. If they want to score six runs in the first inning, it’s not over,” Santa Rosa head coach Steve Mendoza said. “In the second game we gave away runs, but we stayed the course in the third game, got our bats going and put the pressure back on them.”
The Lions scored runs on an error at first base, a wild pitch, a bunt and during a rundown to start the deciding game, but the Warrior offense over the next three innings gave Santa Gertrudis Academy their second blown lead of the series.
“We stopped doing what was working. We popped the ball up and stopped making good contact. We really opened up doors for them with our mistakes,” Lion head coach Martin Gonzalez said. “We haven’t been able to really hold leads all year long and I don’t know why that is. That’s baseball, I guess, but it happens to us a lot.”
In Game 2, the Warriors fell behind 5-0 after the first inning in which they allowed three unearned runs and committed a pair of errors on third base.
The Warriors had more than 11 errors combined in both games.
Santa Rosa starting pitcher AJ Mendiola tossed seven Ks in Game 2, but the Warriors’ defense never got out of their own way and were run-ruled in six innings.
In Game 3, however, Warriors pitcher Manny Sanchez got the call to the mound and delivered.
Aside from the rocky first inning, Sanchez struck out four batters and tossed five scoreless innings.
“Manny has a lot of experience and despite being down 6-0, he knew his defense would back him up and help get us back in to the game,” Mendoza said. “We told him to keep the ball down in the zone and don’t elevate the strike zone and He’ll be okay. I think he did a heck of a job coming back from that deficit.”
By the third inning, the Lions’ lead was cut in half.
That’s when Santa Rosa’s Leo Lara delivered a two-run hit to deep center field and advanced to third base.
Sanchez tied the game moments later with an RBI double, which brought in Lara to make it 6-6.
In the fourth, the Warriors took the lead for good, ironically on a wild pitch to make it 7-6.
Richard Rodriguez topped off the inning with a two-run single to provide cushion for the Warriors.
The Lions did battle the next four innings, but the Warriors’ defensive was as sharp as they had been all day and gave up just one run while the Lions left three runners stranded.