McALLEN — The McAllen Memorial Mustangs scored ten unanswered runs to take down Brownsville Porter 10-2 in Game 1 of their Region IV-5A bi-district playoff series Thursday at McAllen Memorial High School.
Porter (19-6-1) plated the first two runs of the game with a leadoff triple by Omar Banda, a run on a throwing error and an RBI-single by Ivan Torres.
After that, however, it was all Mustangs.
McAllen Memorial (19-11) went on to score runs in each of the next five innings, including three in both the bottom of the fourth and bottom of the sixth.
“We might have come out a little nervous. It’s been a while since this team has been in the playoffs experience-wise, but we knew we could hit the ball so we knew we’d be alright,” Memorial head coach Roque Cortinas said.
Mustangs left-handed pitcher David An locked in and allowed just one hit after a two-run first. He gave up three hits and walked five while striking out seven in 6 2/3 innings.
“I felt my mechanics a little off in the first inning. I fixed it during the warmup pitches and ever since that it was coming off good off my hand,” An said. “I think our team came through. We played as a team and everyone did their job.”
First baseman Eloy Lozano went 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and one run scored to lead the Mustangs offensively. Erik Serrano finished 2-for-3 with one RBI, one walk and three runs. Jose Rivera, Emilio Preza, Daniel Flores and Gael Aguirre all drove in one run each for Memorial.
“I think once someone hits, the whole team gets started. It’s one hit after another — that motivation of if one person gets a hit, another person gets a hit,” Lozano said.
Banda, Torres and Gael Franco had Porter’s three hits on the evening.
Game 2 between the Mustangs and Cowboys is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Brownsville Porter High School. Game 3, if necessary, is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at McAllen Memorial.
“They got a real good pitcher left in Banda, so it’s going to be tough at their house. We got (Manuel) Villa on the mound, he’s been a big-time pitcher for us all year, so we like our chances,” Cortinas said.
