LA JOYA — The La Joya Palmview Lobos exploded with a six-run fifth inning to take down the Roma Gladiators 7-3 in District 30-5A action Saturday at La Joya Baseball Complex.
The victory by the Lobos (21-7, 10-2) keeps them tied for first in district with Rio Grande City entering the final week of the regular season. The Gladiators (17-12, 8-4) already have secured their spot in the playoffs and still have an outside shot at sharing a district title, but they’ll need help to do so.
“I told the guys, ‘If we keep our composure and play the way we know how, we can be victorious,’ because we know Roma is a tough team and they wanted to win to stay in contention for the district title,” Palmview head coach Manuel Garcia said. “We got to take care of business next week. As I just told them right now, we have not won anything yet, we still have to play two more games.”
Palmview’s six-run fifth inning began with Renzo Tamez being hit by a pitch and a Mateo Garcia walk. Third baseman Gael Gonzalez followed with an RBI single to left field, and Josiah Gonzalez tripled to drive in another two runs. Tony Villarreal singled to bring him in, and designated hitter Ezie Puente capped the inning with a two-run home run to left field for a 6-2 lead.
“We were hitting the ball hard but just hitting it to them. In the fifth inning, the opportunity came and we took it. It wasn’t by surprise, we knew we were going to get on them quick and we executed,” Gael Gonzalez said. “It just shows the hard work every day in practice. This isn’t our first rodeo. It’s not all about one person on this team, we can all step up and do our job.”
Roma struck first on a two-run double to center field by Ricky Ruiz during the top of the first.
“The difference in today’s game is they hit the ball well and put the ball in play. We struck out about 10 times, and they did a good job of putting the ball in play,” Roma head coach Hector Ochoa said.
After surrendering the two early runs, Palmview’s Mateo Garcia was on point for the final six innings as he finished with a complete-game performance with nine strikeouts, six hits and one walk across seven innings. He also went 2-for-3 with a walk.
“Everything was working — off-speed, fastball, just trying to keep them off-balance, trying to keep us in the game and keep us close,” Mateo Garcia said.
If the Lobos can win their next two games, they’ll win their second consecutive 30-5A championship.
Palmview and Laredo Cigarroa will play Game 1 of their District 30-5A series at 5 p.m. Thursday in Laredo. Game 2 is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday at Palmview High School.
“We’re taking it one game at a time because they were playoff contenders themselves,” Coach Garcia said. “They want to eliminate us from getting that district trophy, so they’re going to be a tough team because they got nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
Meanwhile, Roma moves on for a rivalry series against Rio Grande City. The Gladiators can play spoiler with one or two victories against the Rattlers next week. Game 1 is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday in Roma. Game 2 is set for 7 p.m. Friday in Rio Grande City.
“We have to compete — put the ball in play, hit the ball, play fundamental defense and just go from there. Rio’s a hot team right now and I know they’re going to come out looking for the district title as well, but we’re not going to let up. It’s a rivalry game and the kids are going to be excited, I know the community is excited for that game and we’re just going to bring it,” Ochoa said.