TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
McALLEN — Senior Jake Weaver hit a grand slam and sophomore pitcher Abanny Garcia struck out eight as the McAllen Rowe trounced visiting McAllen Memorial 11-1 in six innings Tuesday.
Garcia was not only sound on the mound, but prolific at the plate, as last year’s All-Valley Newcomer of the Year went 4-for-4 with three doubles and a single for the Warriors. Garcia also scored three times for good measure in what was a stellar night for Rowe at the plate. Weaver went 3-for-4, and designated hitter Edgar Chapa got on safely three times as well.
The win raises Rowe’s record to 2-0 in District 30-6A. The Mustangs drop to 1-1.
“Memorial is a tough team, and we knew we were going to be in for a battle,” Rowe coach Angel Perez said. “We just came out there swinging the bats well, and we hit the ball well. But it feels good. We just have to take it one game at a time. Our district is so tough.”
The end of district is a long way off. Perez emphasized that he has a young team but says Rowe’s sophomores know that have to show up and play.
Garcia certainly didn’t disappoint.
The 15-year-old came out of the dugout hot. He struck out five Mustangs in the first two innings on his way to facing just 27 batters in six innings, or just over 4 batters per turn. Garcia, who allowed three hits, gave up Rowe’s only run in the third when Memorial’s Jay De Los Reyes singled in Jayce Bazan and made the score 4-1 Rowe. The Warriors poured it on after that, and made working the mound easier, said Garcia.
“It’s not really about striking out people. I just go out there and try to throw strikes,” Garcia said. “I want to let my defense work behind me. At first when I was warming up, (my arm) felt kind of rough, but after a few innings I felt better.”
Weaver’s second-inning blast started the scoring avalanche for the Warriors. His two-out grand slam cleared the left field fence and went about 340 feet, Perez said. It was the center fielder’s second of the year. Weaver said Rowe came to play aggressively and knows it has to produce runs. After adding a run in the third, the Warriors added three each in the fifth and sixth innings to run the score up to 11.
While Memorial pitcher Luis Talancan took the loss, he also sat down seven Warriors by strikeout before leaving in the fifth. Mustangs batters, however, could not solve Garcia. Memorial coach Ocatavio Oyervides said his squad has to learn from its mistakes because there’s still a lot of baseball to play.
“You definitely used some of the things that went wrong as coaching points,” Oyervides said. “Overall, though, I shared with them that they were not ready to play today.”