RE-PETE

Make sure to check out this week’s Monitor Webcast. It will be another double-header, this time with the La Joya baseball and softball coaches.

It took me a couple of weeks to get Coyotes coach Reuben Farias to agree. He never said no but he is not exactly a media-loving guy and somewhat camera shy. He is cautious with reporters because he deals with young minds.

He said he tries to stay away from the RGVsports Web site because sometimes comments on those stories can be brutal. I can understand that. I read those things for amusement and I am to a point where I am not surprised by what is written or who is posting on the Web site.

Winner Take All

Sharyland plays Laredo United in Kingsville on Friday in a do-or-die game. United must be somewhat worried about Sharyland because it wanted a one-game series. The Rattlers wanted a best-of-three series.

It should make for an interesting night. Our coastal bend stringer will be on the job.

The last three Class 5A schools standing are from District 30-5A – La Joya, Sharyland and McAllen High.

Looking back on the season, these three teams were the best all year. 

They have pitching, hitting, good coaching and some of the best players in the Valley. 

All three were top 5 five teams all season. I’ll be honest, I almost ranked the three teams as the top three to begin the season.

But I thought the three best teams can’t be from one district. They proved me wrong.

Busts

Brownsville Porter and Edinburg High had disappointing ends to their season, both were swept.

Porter had a low-scoring offense and relied heavily on its pitching. Its pitching struggled against Laredo United and couldn’t score.

Edinburg High had the most potential but couldn’t come through in the big games dating back to the tournament portion of the season.

Monitor Sports Editor Wade Baker was telling me how much Alice really likes its baseball. The city must have been celebrating after the Coyotes upset powerhouse and defending Class 4A champ C.C. Moody in the area round.

The teams played only one game and Alice, the second seed from District 31-4A, beat Moody 9-6. Read about it here.

Mercedes knows all about Alice. The Tigers were hammered by the Coyotes in their bi-district series last week. 

Done for the year 

All the Valley Class 4A teams have been eliminated from the playoffs. Mission lost 2-0 to Uvalde on Friday.

In an embarrasing moment for me, I asked Eagles coach Rick Lozano what he expected for Game 2. He politely let me know it was a one-game playoff.

Edinburg High on the ropes

Today we will see what the Bobcats are made of.

There were a lot of expectations surrounding this team but find themselves down 0-1 in their best-of-three series against a very good Sharyland team. As I said in my previous blog, their 13-10 loss to Los Fresnos last week still has me confused.

I think it will be a disappointment if they lose. They have the most talent this year.

I haven’t done this for a couple of weeks because I was locked out of the system. I finally figured it out. It was simple as getting a new password.

I didn’t get to go to the state track meet this year. I was kind of bummed because some of the Valley athletes have a real shot at gold.

But I did get to stick around and cover baseball. I’ll be honest there is not one team that has really impressed me this year.

Sharyland and La Joya are starting to dominate and are probably the top two teams in the Valley. I am starting to take notice of both those teams.

Edinburg High had me confused when it dropped a game 13-10 to Los Fresnos, a team that backed into the playoffs.

PSJA High is inexperienced. McHi can be eratic. Porter relies on its pitching.

On a side note of the EHS-Los Fresnos Game: I had to ask Monitor staff photographer Joel Martinez for some money because the game was so long and I needed something to drink. I also had to call in the reserves because I couldn’t cover Game 3 because I had to cover the Dorados, so Brian Sandalow filled in for me.

 I let coach Kaz know the Bobcats made it a long difficult Saturday for me.