EAGLES BI-DISTRICT BASEBALL DAMOND NEWS
Eagles sweep past
La Joya Coyotes in two straight
2018 Bi-District Champions
By: Conrado Perez, Jr. – Eagle Pass Sports Central
“Your best and only source for local sports news in Eagle Pass”
The District 29-6A tri-champion Eagle Pass Eagles varsity baseball team who drew the number 3 slot for the post season ventured to Laredo, Texas on Friday, May, 4, 2018 to open their best two out of three series against the La Joya Coyotes who finished number two in District 30-5A with a 7:00 PM series opening matchup in their quest of the UIL Region IV bi-district championship at the Laredo United ISD Student Activity Center. The Eagles came into this series sporting an overall season record of 15-16 while the Coyotes entered with an overall season mark of 13-6. The winner of the Eagle Pass-La Joya series would advance to tangle with the winner of the Harlingen-Edinburg Vela series in the Area Round of the playoffs.
GAME 1
Game one of this best of three series was completely dominated by Eagles starting pitcher Rey Rey Mendoza who went the distance allowing just one harmless base hit issued only a pair of walks and registered a whopping 12 strikeouts to earn the 7 to 0 shutout over the La Joya Coyotes.
The Eagles supported Rey Rey Mendoza’s dominant pitching performance with a solid ten hit attack in this game. In the bottom of the third the Eagles dented the scoreboard first with a pair of runs to take the lead for good in this game with Rey Rey Mendoza stroking a one out single, Dee Andre Torres as issued a base on balls, Braulio Rodriguez followed with a two RBI double to drive in courtesy runner Richie Luna and Dee Andre Torres.
In the bottom of the fifth the Eagles extended their lead with a three run output with David Lopez leading off the frame with a single and promptly stole second, Rey Rey Mendoza belted an RBI single to drive in David Lopez, Dee Andre Torres connected with an RBI double to drive in Rey Rey Mendoza, with one out Christian Del Bosque followed with an RBI double to bring home Dee Andre Torres.
For good measure the Eagles tacked on a pair of insurance runs with Hector Montoya stroking a one out single, David Lopez was issued a base on balls, with two outs Dee Andre Torres came through with a two RBI double to drive in Hector Montoya and David Lopez to give the Eagles the 7 to 0 victory with the Eagle closing out the victory with a game winning and inning ending double play in the top of the seventh
Score by Innings: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
LA JOYA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
EAGLES 0 0 2 0 3 2 x 7 10 0
Winning Pitcher: Rey Rey Mendoza Leading Hitters: Dee Andre Torres 3 for 2 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI’s, Rey Rey Mendoza 2 for 4 with 1 RBI, Hector 1 for 1 with 1 run scored, David Lopez 1 for 2 with 2 runs scored, Braulio Rodriguez 1 for 4 with 2 RBI’s, Christian Del Bosque 1 for 2 with 1 RBI, and Richie Luna 2 runs scored.
GAME 2
In the second game of the best of three series on Saturday afternoon the game started out very promising for the Eagles as they took the lead right away with a four run production in the top half of the very first inning with Rey Rey Mendoza leading off the game with a walk, with one out Braulio Rodriguez received an intentional walk, Christian Del Bosque connected with a two RBI single to bring home Rey Rey Mendoza and Braulio Rodriguez, courtesy runner Kristian Barcena stole second with two outs Isaac Roque belted and RBI double to bring home Kristian Barcena, Isaac Gonzalez followed with a single to put runners on the corners Hector Montoya stroked an RBI single to drive in Isaac Roque.
In the bottom of the first the Coyotes countered with a lone unearned run courtesy of a pair of Eagles errors and a base hit off of Eagles’ starting hurler Eric Heredia. But in the baseball only those that have actually played the game will know on any given pitch any given pitch the tide can turn for the best or for the worse and n the bottom of the third the Coyotes erupted with a huge 7 run outburst to take an 8 to 2 lead over the Eagles.
But the proud Eagles Pass Eagles supported by the Loyal Legion of Eagles faithful in attendance cheering for their beloved Eagles will never give up no matter what the situation may be or how big the obstacle may be slowly but surely began to answer back with lone runs in the top of the fourth and fifth innings respectfully to narrow their deficit to 9 to 6
In the top of the sixth the mighty Eagles continued their comeback assault with a pair of runs with two outs Braulio Rodriguez slapped a single, pinch hitter Orly Garza drew a walk Derek Ibarra loaded the bases with a single, Isaac Roque came through with a clutch two RBI to drive in both Braulio Rodriguez and Orly Garza to narrow the La Joya lead to a single run (9 to 8)
Facing their final at bat in the top of the seventh, the Eagles’ first two batters were retired quickly, with two outs Rey Rey Mendoza kept the hopes of a comeback alive by getting hit by a pitch, Dee Andre Torres followed with a game tying RBI single to drive in Rey Rey Mendoza Braulio Rodriguez also connected with an RBI single to bring home Dee Andre Torres with the go ahead run, Derek Ibarra followed with an RBI single to deliver home Braulio Rodriguez with what eventually prove to be a vital insurance run as the Eagles had clawed and fought all the way back to take an 11to 9 lead over the stunned La Joya Coyotes.
In the bottom half of the seventh the La Joya Coyotes refused to give up even after their first two batters were retired quietly by the Eagles third reliever, with two outs the next batter stroke a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch, Dee Andre Torres took over the pitching chores on the mound for the Eagle The Coyotes next batter singled to drive in the runner from third to narrow the Coyotes deficit to only one run, the next batter was intentionally walked to set up a force play at any base but Torres was having control problems in locating home plate and walked the next batter to load the bases and had a 3 and 1 count on the next batter but luckily the batter decoded to swing at the next pitch if not perhaps he too perhaps would have walked to bring home the game tying run but the batter at the plate hit a shot to straight away center that had extra bases written all over and would have easily brought in the tying and game winning runs but Eagle Pass Eagles centerfielder Rey Rey Mendoza who uses far less strides than the rest of the players on the field only took about five strides to run down the ball in the air for the final out of this game as well as the series as the Eagles took game two by the final score of 11to 10 with David Lopez earning the pitching victory for the Eagles.
When all of the dust had finally settled around home plate the Eagles and Coyotes had combined to produce a total of 21 runs, belted out a total of 31 base hits and had used the combined services of nine pitchers in this game but as the old saying goes “I would rather win Ugly than to lose Pretty!”
Eagle Pass Sports Central congratulates the mighty Eagles on their thrilling series clinching victory over the La Joya Coyotes. The Eagles thus improve their overall season record to 16 wins and 16 losses and now advance to the UIL Region IV Class 6A area round where they will square off against the Edinburg Vela Saber Cats in a best 2 out of 3 series for the UIL Region IV Area Round title starting on Friday, May 11, 2018 at 7:00 pm at the Uni-Trade Stadium in Laredo, Texas, Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday, May 12, 2018 at 11:00 am at Uni-Trade Stadium with game three if necessary scheduled for 30 minutes after Game 2. GO EAGLES!
Score by Innings: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
EAGLES 4 0 0 1 1 2 3 11 17 4
LA JOYA 1 0 7 1 0 0 1 10 14 2
Winning Pitcher: David Lopez Save: Dee Andre Torres Leading Hitters: Christian Del Bosque3 for 4 with 2 RBI’s, Hector Montoya 3 for 4 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI, Isaac Roque 2 for 4 with 1 run scored and 3 RBI’s, Dee Andre Torres 2 for 5 with 1 run scored, Derek Ibarra 2 for 4 with 1 RBI, Rey Rey Mendoza 1 for 3 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI, David Lopez 1 for 4, Isaac Gonzalez 1 for 4 with 1 RBI, Kristian Barcena 2 runs scored and Orly Garza 1 run scored.
UIL REGION IV BI-DISTRICT ROUND PLAYOFFS
Laredo Alexander vs. McAllen Nikki Rowe One Game series
Game 1 Laredo Alexander won 2 to 0
Laredo Alexander advances
Southwest vs. Mission Best 2 out of 3 series
Game 1 Mission won 3 to 1
Game 2 Mission won 8 to 2
Mission advances
Eagle Pass vs. La Joya Best 2 out of 3 series
Game 1 Eagle Pass won7 to 0
Game 2 Eagle Pass won 11 to 10
Eagle Pass advances
Laredo United vs. McAllen Best 2 out of 3 series
Game 1 McAllen won 6 to 3
Game 2 Laredo United won 5 to 1
Game 3 McAllen won 2 to 1
McAllen advances