RE-PETE

The Rio Grande Valley Coaches Association is basically run by football coaches, putting on the football All-Star game and track’s Meet of Champs.

The Meet of Champs is not the most smoothly run track event. I always thought these coaches should stick to the gridiron. It is their expertise, or so I thought.

The RGVCA left La Villa’s Class A All-State Player of the Year J.D. Cisneros off the All-Star team. What is even more troubling is the explaination by RGVCA president Carlos Longoria. He said the three picked were District MVPs. That is absolutely false because Edinburg North’s Randy Ramirez wasn’t an MVP, and Cisneros was a league MVP.

Longoria couldn’t even say anything after La Villa coach Eugene Garza listed Cisneros’ comments. Was he just just forgotten?

It makes me wonder why Ramirez was named to the team. Maybe it has to do with the fact that North coach Roy Garza is also the West All-Star coach this year.

The other West QBs were Rowe’s Michael Enriquez and Mission’s Nathan Salazar, but both didn’t have the season Cisneros had. Mission didn’t even make the playoffs.

I understand Cisneros plays for La Villa but one of his receievers, Rocky Rodriguez, even made the team.

Lastly, I don’t want to take anything away from the guys selected but is there an 11th commandment that says there can only be three quarterbacks.

I will admit, I am confused.

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.

One of the questions I ask for the player spotlight that appears on the baseball/softball page every Thursday is what is the player’s favorite pregame meal.

I have gotten some very interesting answers that have made me wonder how these kids go on to the play the game after eating some of this stuff.

Tacos, barbecue, Double Stacker from Burger King, two double cheeseburgers from McDonalds and Rice and Beans are just some of the answers.

Shouldn’t these foods make these athletes sluggish before the game? Almost all of these kids go on the have a good game. If guess if its not hurting them, whose to tell them to stop.

Warriors make their case

I remember talking to McHi coach Eliseo Pompa before the season and him saying how he thought Rowe would be tough.

Before the season started, I think most people believed La Joya, Sharyland, McAllen High and Rio Grande City would represent 30-5A in the playoffs but Rowe holds the final postseason spot, one game ahead of RGC. It will be interesting to see if the Warriors can hold off the Rattlers.

For more on the postseason check out Playoff Chase on rgvsports.com

Check us out

Jason McDaniel and I did a softball/baseball video talking about the playoffs. It will be posted on RGVsports today.

Sharyland had some issues holding a lead Tuesday against McAllen High. The Rattlers also blew a lead against La Joya the first time both teams met and lost.

It got a little dicey for me there late because I had an early deadline. The last McHi-Shary game went 10 innings.

Rattlers coach Barton Bickerton said he thinks his team relaxed Tuesday after it took a 6-0 lead in the fourth.

With the win Sharyland put its hat in the ring for the league championship but its going to take a complete collapse by La Joya if either the Bulldogs or the Rattlers are going to win or even tie for the district title.

La Joya and Sharyland should be ineteresting Friday.

The game was fun. I got to hang out in the McHi press box, which is actually coach Pompa’s office.

While I was there I discovered fajita tacos that might compete with the fajita tacos they sell at Hidalgo football games.

I have written in the past how the Hidalgo fajita tacos are the best I’ve had at a sporting event in the Valley but the tacos at McHi on Tuesday were pretty good.

But the edge has to go to Hidalgo because those tacos come with salsa, which is also good.  I asked for salsa at McHi but all they had were jalapenos.

District 32-4A

This a carzy race. I am not sure who wants it more. Mercedes lost to Valley View on Tuesday, throwing the race for another loop.

Where is the love

When I was blogging during the girls basketball season, I received comments and feedback, although it was not all positive.

Where are all the baseball fans at? I want comments. You can’t tell me girls basketball fans are more passionate. 

Both the Cougars and Bobcats made a lot of mistakes on the bases during Friday’s district game. 

Part of this was good defense, especially on the Bobacts side. Eli De La Garza is a good defensive catcher.

On the Cougars side, Raymond Corkill got caught at first in the third and Randy Ramirez got caught at first in the fourth.

On the Bobcats side, De La Garza tried to go from second to third in the fourth inning on a hit to short and was easily out. Michael Barajas was caught in a rundown in the second inning, Justin Anthony was caught in a rundown in the third inning and Ricky Villarreal was caught in a rundown in the fifth.

It is concerning for Coach Kaz. He said his team has had some mental lapses on the bases lately and something the Bobcats need to work on as the playoffs loom.

Check out Friday’s game story.

District 32-5A

Lopez really hurt itself with the loss to San Benito earlier in the week. They would be in first all alone after beating Porter on Friday. Watch out for the Panthers, they seem to be surging.

Upcoming

Look out for a story on Sharyland’s Andre Rodriguez in Tuesday’s paper.

I just read an e-mail that pointed out that I wrote Centenary College was in Alabama. That’s not a story I want to provide a link to, for obvious reasons.

Jaclyn Lopez, a former Sharyland volleyball standout, will attend Cenetenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana.

I’m a bonehead, I know.

ALEX TREVINO

I have never seen anyone run as fast as that guy. It was carzy watching him run. Everyone knew he was going to win and just stopped or stood up to watch him.

I was doing some research, the fastest time ever recorded for a high school athlete is 10:15. For the 200, I think its 20.94.

He’s a true state contender from Mercedes. 

He’s such a celebrity in Mercedes, my Fiancee’s 8-year-old cousin, who is student of MercedesISD , has asked me about him.

BASEBALL

The Porter-Lopez game will be interesting although Lopez’s loss to San Benito, which had not won a district game, kind of put a damper on the contest.

If Porter wins, it will be at least two games better than anyone else and will probably coast to the district title. Lopez will be in a battle for second place with Weslaco.

I doubt Asthon Kutcher knows the Rio Grande Valley exists but I felt he had to be behind this somehow.

Where are the TV cameras and Kutcher jumping around so that I can say, “This is Peter Rasmussen and I have been Punkd.”

This was not done on purpose but I was taken by surprise.

Last week I wrote a story about Tricia Terry being out for the season with a foot injury.

I showed up to the track meet and started typing in the results from Thursday’s events. As I came across the 3,200-meter results, I noticed the district champ was Tricia Terry.

Apparently the day before the meet, she thought she was good enough to run. It was a decision against doctor’s orders. Terry had to sign a release in order to run.

Terry, who is on crutches, had everyone, including me, surprised.

“I didn’t want this injury to ruin my season,” Terry said.

During the next two weeks she will be training in the pool and Terry hopes to be almost 100 percent by the time the state meet comes around.

STEPHEN SAENZ

Saenz’s 204 feet throw in the discus is the third best in the nation. Last week he also broke the Meet of Champs record in the discus with a throw of 194-4.

Since writing about him last year I have always been under the impression that he enjoyed the shot put more, so its interesting his biggest success is coming in the discus.

About a month ago The Monitor did a story on Sanez. Read it here.

From what I understand the Saenz camp is claming he threw the discus 204-7 not 204-0 but its in the books as the latter.

La Joya 1,600-relay

The Coyotes had already clinched their fourth consecutive district title by the time the 1,600 relay came around but coach Kine Venecia was still excited and running around making sure the relay team won.

LJ wons its sixth consecutive district title in the 1,600.

Venecia said they wanted to win it one last time before LJ spilts up into three schools next year.