BY BRYAN RAMOS | STAFF WRITER
EDCOUCH — The Valley View Tigers and Edcouch-Elsa Yellow Jackets put on a pitching clinic with serious playoff implications on the line Thursday night.
It was a duel between Valley View’s Javier Flores and Edcouch-Elsa’s Manny Diaz, as both starters pitched a complete game, but defensive errors was the difference in the Tigers’ 1-0 win.
The game’s only run came during the top of the second inning as Valley View’s Eduardo Guerrero and Braulio Hinojosa reached base on a single and a double, respectively. Gael Salinas stepped to the plate next and popped one up. But with winds of more than 20 miles per hour, what should have been a routine out turned into an error, allowing Guerrero to cross the plate for the eventual game-winning score.
Flores went all seven innings, yielding just one hit and two walks while striking out seven in a shutout effort. The Valley View ace received help from his defense on multiple occasions to hold the Yellow Jackets to just one hit and three baserunners the entire game.
“I think he was able to control his slider and was able to combine his fastball outside and inside, but he depended on his slider having great rotation. There was three great plays today, two throws from center field and one from right field and that’s what helped us out,” Valley View coach Mario Gonzalez said. “Unfortunately for them, the wind was a big factor today, because we scored on a fly ball that the wind took and the shortstop wasn’t able to catch it. The other pitcher did great today, but our guy was just a little better.”
Diaz was just as effective for the Yellow Jackets as the sophomore pitched a complete game with nine strikeouts and no earned runs.
The win locks up a playoff spot for the Tigers, who improve to 8-4 in District 32-5A with dates against Brownsville Pace and Donna High next Tuesday and Thursday.
“Hopefully we win because not everything is decided. The district tightened up since the teams on the bottom won and the ones on top lost games they should have won, so everything can change from second to fourth. I say that’s the beauty about baseball,” Gonzalez said.
The loss sends the Yellow Jackets to 6-6 in district play and into a tie for fourth place with Brownsville Pace with two games remaining. Edcouch-Elsa will visit Brownsville Porter at 7 p.m. Tuesday before hosting Brownsville Veterans in the regular season finale at 7 p.m. Friday, April 26.