By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
The stakes and the intensity were high for Rivera and Weslaco High in a crucial District 32-6A game.
Emotions aside, unfortunately the Raiders’ pitching had their troubles and the Panthers took advantage with a 10-run inning during their 14-2 win in a District 32-6A game Friday at Rivera.
“At the end of the day, we couldn’t throw strikes,” Rivera coach Travis Parker said. “The adversity was good for our guys, we need to experience that. I don’t think anything got to us except that we couldn’t throw strikes in that inning. We’ve been solid all year on the mound and this is the first time we’ve experienced that.”
Rivera (6-2 in District 32-6A) had its trouble on the mound in the sixth inning and Weslaco High (6-2) made it pay with 10 runs on no hits, seven walks and three hits batsmen during that inning that sent 13 batters to the plate and put the game out of reach. Once the Panthers loaded the bases, the runs kept coming as four different pitchers struggled for the Raiders toget out of the jam.
Rivera starting pitcher Diego Gonzalez had pitched well until then, but got knocked out in the sixth. He took the loss after he allowed nine runs in 5 1/3 innings on five hits, walked three, struck out five and had three hit batsmen. Johnny Balli, Omar Rodriguez and Jesus Ibarra also took the mound and each had their own struggles in the sixth.
The game started out much differently.
Weslaco High took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI double by Raul Camarena. Rivera wasted no time and tied it in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Raul Gonzalez.
It would stay tied until the fourth inning. The Panthers got their bats going and got three runs via RBI singles by Rico Avila, Bryan Diaz and Seth Sanchez to give them a 4-1 lead. The intensity started to boil as the Raiders catcher was ejected after the third run scored on a close play and both players argued near home plate.
“It was a matter of making plays,” Weslaco High coach Eddie Serna said. “At our place (Tuesday), we didn’t make plays … and (Friday) we made a few extra plays and that rolled our way. (Rivera pitchers) were struggling with their command, we were patient and that gave us some momentum. When you lose that first game (of the district series), you redeem yourself on Friday or you go home and pack it up because they swept you.
“Our deal was to redeem ourselves and I think the kids rebounded well.”
In the fifth inning, things got worse for Rivera before they got better. Raiders head Travis Parker argued a play in the top half of the inning and eventually got tossed. But his team got a run back in the bottom half as Gonzalez hit an RBI single to center field to cut the deficit to two.
“Bad calls are going to happen and I’m going to fight for my guys,” Parker said.
That momentum didn’t last as Weslaco High broke the game open when the Rivera pitching staff had its troubles, leading to the teams splitting their season series.
Avila helped himself at the plate with an RBI and a run scored and did just as well on the mound for the Panthers. He got the win after going all six innings and allowed two runs on four hits, walked one, struck out two and had two hit batsmen.
Serna said he liked the atmosphere, as close to a postseason intensity as it could be.
“The intensity is always up here … fortunately the ball bounced our way and we were able to get a lead and put the pressure on them,” he said. “We have six games to go and anything can happen … we’re going to stayfocused and keep going forward, just take it one step at a time.”
The Raiders coach and his team would rather erase this one from their memory.
“We’ll learn from it and get better and be ready to bounce back on Tuesday,” Parker said. “We’re still there and fighting for a playoff spot. We’re going to forget this, it’s water under the bridge … we’ll fix what we need to fix and come back better tomorrow.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.