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Mission Veterans Memorial wins tournament title in a shootout

March 1, 2014

  WESLACO — Pitching is always thin in high school baseball, and that’s especially the case when you’re playing your fifth game in three days. So, in Saturday’s championship of the Tony Rico Mid-Valley Classic, host Weslaco High and Mission Veterans knew it was going to be a shootout.   Twenty-five runs later, the Patriots were crowned champions. They scored 14 of those runs, winning 14-11 over the Panthers to take the title. Mission Vets went 5-0 in the tournament and is 10-1 on the season. It cranked out nine hits and drew seven walks in this one. It took advantage of several Weslaco errors.   But most importantly, even after blowing an 11-5 lead, the Patriots didn’t waver. They battled back for two runs in the sixth inning to go up 13-11. That proved to be enough to hold off Weslaco (7-3). “One thing about our team, we’re a very resilient bunch,” Mission Vets coach Casey Smith said. “Those guys don’t ever get too high or too low.”   They easily could’ve. Weslaco put up a 6-spot in the fifth, chasing Mission Vets starter Leo Martinez and battering freshman Cristian Ramos. The Panthers sent 12 men to the plate, getting RBI hits from Tyler Lopez, Nate Campos, Andrew Cavazos and Mel Ortiz. Ulises Hernandez had the big knock — a 2-RBI triple. All but one of the runs was earned. Four came with two outs.   The Patriots didn’t hang their heads for too long, though. Edward Pena had a 1-out double in the sixth inning. After Martinez walked, Pena scored on two Panther throwing errors. Martinez crossed on a wild pitch. It wasn’t a textbook way to answer back, but the Patriots weren’t complaining.   “We’re pretty confident, we’re confident we’d find a way to get the lead back,” infielder Brandon Ibarra said. “It was a little nerve-racking, but we found a way.”   There was a run in every half inning until Weslaco’s side of the fourth. The Panthers led 2-1 after one and 3-2 after two. It was tied at 5 going into the fourth, and that’s where Mission Vets opened the floodgates, scoring six times. Three came in on Ibarra’s opposite-field triple. Pena brought him in. David De Los Santos later added two more.   All of those runs were charged to Hernandez, who lasted six innings. The three runs Mission Vets scored in the third were not earned. Neither were the two in the sixth. It was that kind of story for the Panthers.   “We expected a high-scoring game, mistakes here or there will cost you,” Weslaco coach Eddie Serna said. “Can’t give away runs when the wind’s like that.”   Noel Vela scored four times for the Patriots, including an insurance run in the seventh. That helped Aggie Villarreal, who pitched the final two frames and was barely touched.   The victory, naturally, was a good capper to tournament play for the Patriots. But they know that, come Tuesday when they face Edcouch-Elsa in District 32-4A, the real games will resume.   “You try to win anything you do,” Smith said. “We hope it (carries over) Tuesday against Edcouch.”