MISSION — Mission High pitcher JR Soto stifled the Los Fresnos Falcons in Game 2 of the teams’ Class 6A bi-district playoff series Saturday.
Then in the deciding Game 3, he came in to close out an 8-7 win and help the Eagles advance to the area round of the playoffs.
“After we got the first win, even though Los Fresnos are district champs, we knew we were going to ball out as underdogs like we have all year and get the win,” Soto said. “Thank God we came out with two wins at home.”
Soto was a little nervous about having to come in to Game 3 to close it out, but the adrenaline took over.
“I will die for my teammates,” he said. “I was ready to go in for them and pitch my heart out.”
Mission High took the second game of the series after a great outing on the mound by Soto. The lefty pitched a complete game as the Eagles won 8-2.
The Eagles’ offense drove in six runs in the second and third innings to build a solid lead that they sustained because of the arm of Soto and a great defense backing him up. Multiple double plays ended innings and pumped up the crowd.
“Proud as heck of these guys,” Eagles coach Leo Salinas Jr. said. “We had to win two games (Saturday), and they understood the task at hand and they fought through until the end. Super proud of JR Soto in the first game, and Tony Fuentes battled some defensive miscues in Game 2, but the resilience of these kids from this year to last year is a total 180. I am super proud of these guys.”
In Game 3, the Eagles jumped on the Falcons early and built an 8-0 lead after the top of the third. In the bottom half of the inning, Los Fresnos unleashed a furious comeback to cut the lead to 8-7.
The pitching tightened up for both teams after the crazy third inning.
The Falcons had runners on the corners in the sixth inning but hit into a double play to end the frame and their best chance at pulling off the comeback.
“It was a great series and a great season,” Falcons coach Rene Morales said. “Hats off to those guys, they battled (Saturday) and took two from us, they deserve it. They outplayed us (Saturday), they hit the ball when they had to and pitched the ball better (Saturday). That is the name of the game.”
