MISSION — Sharyland High secured a win on Senior Day and clinched at least a share of the District 31-5A championship by defeating crosstown rival Sharyland Pioneer 11-1 in six innings Tuesday at Sharyland High School.
The Rattlers (23-4, 15-2) will have to defeat state-ranked Sharyland Pioneer (24-4-1, 14-3) for the second time in four days in Game 2 on Friday in order to win the 31-5A title outright, while the Diamondbacks can claim a share of the district championship with a bounceback win against the rival Rattlers.
Game 2 between the Diamondbacks and Rattlers is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Sharyland Pioneer High School in Mission.
“I think our guys came out hungry tonight,” Sharyland head coach Austin Bickerton said. “They’re a great team over there. They’re very well-coached with Coach (Adrian) Leal. I know they’re going to be ready, but I got to give it to my guys, man. They came out — couple pings here and there — but they played almost a complete game for us.”
The Rattlers run-ruled the Diamondbacks with an RBI single by senior Cole Gerlach with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning. Gerlach started at pitcher for Sharyland and shut down the Diamondbacks with one earned run off four walks, three hits and seven strikeouts across six innings.
The Rattlers broke open the game with a five-run second inning and never looked back. Freshman Santiago Soto finished with four RBIs on 2-for-4 hitting. Gerlach drove in a pair of runs, and Horacio Garza and Fernie Hinojosa had one RBI each. Diego Diaz went 1-for-1 with three walks and three runs.
“Our team came together knowing district is on the line and playing against our rivals. Our lineup helped me be comfortable on the mound, those bats played a big part in keeping me confident and throwing a good game today,” Gerlach said.
The Diamondbacks committed five errors, which put them in a hole as the Rattlers continued to apply pressure by putting the ball in play.
Pioneer prevented the shutout with an RBI single by David Cavazos in the fifth.
The Diamondbacks will look to put this one behind them and focus on their opportunity to bounce back at home Friday night.
“The difference was they made the routine play and we didn’t. We had trouble with self-discipline today, and that was the difference,” Pioneer head coach Adrian Leal said. “The message is very simple — if you buy in and do the little things right, you’re going to have success with the talent that we have. So we need to find a way to buy in, even when things aren’t going our way, stay with the game plan and do the little things right.”