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EDINBURG — Edinburg Vela and La Joya High played even through the first three and a half innings of Game 3 of their Region IV-6A best-of-three playoff series Saturday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
The Coyotes broke the game open with a three-run fourth and five-run fifth to storm past the SaberCats 10-3 and punch their ticket to the Region IV-6A semifinals.
La Joya (21-10-1, 11-5) will face Lake Travis (31-5-3, 13-1) in the Sweet 16. The Cavaliers swept San Antonio Clark with Round 3 wins of 5-1 and 7-0. Game details are to be determined.
Edinburg Vela’s season ends at 25-10 overall. The SaberCats’ appearance in the regional quarterfinals was the program’s fourth in a row.
“I’m very proud of our guys. I’ve been saying throughout the year that we have a special group of seniors and they really stepped up today,” La Joya head coach Mario Flores said. “I’m very proud of J.R. Ramos. He did a really good job despite not pitching much during the regular season; he really stepped up when we needed him.”
Ramos, a senior third baseman, started the series off with a sensational Game 1 at the plate, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs and one run scored to lead the Coyotes.
In Game 3, Ramos delivered on the mound for La Joya by limiting Vela to two earned runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out five across six innings.
“It’s been 12 years since we’ve been to the fourth round. I knew from the second inning when they scored two runs on me, I knew we were going to come back and hit strong,” Ramos said. “Now, we’re going to the fourth round to do our best and see how far we can make it.”
Ramos had pitched just 20.2 innings on the year entering Saturday’s Game 3, but Flores had confidence to start the senior with the season on the line.
“We knew that he could get the job done. We’ve been working with him throughout the year and we knew if we needed him, he was there, and he really stepped up today,” Flores said.
La Joya’s Nathan Perez broke the 2-2 tie during the bottom of the fourth with an RBI sacrifice fly to score JC Gutierrez from third. Homer Muñoz followed with a blooper down the right field line to drive in Lucas Zambrano and Alex Guajardo for a 5-2 lead.
The Coyotes poured it on during the fifth as Zambrano, Perez, Eliab Gonzalez and Muñoz all recorded RBIs to create enough separation to win the deciding Game 3.
“We’ve never been in this situation, but I’m glad we rewrote our history, bringing that tradition back of being in the fourth round,” Flores said.
Muñoz and Perez led La Joya with three RBIs apiece. Gonzalez and Zambrano each drove in two Coyotes runs.
Edinburg Vela’s David Peña went 1-for-3 with two RBIs, while Luke Esparza finished 1-for-3 with one RBI.
REGION IV-5A QUARTERFINALS
GAME 3: SHARYLAND PIONEER 6, CORPUS CHRISTI VETERANS 3: At Hebbronville, the Diamondbacks erased an early three-run deficit to knock Corpus Christi Veterans out of the playoffs and advance to the Sweet 16.
After falling behind 3-0 during the top of the second, the Diamondbacks responded with a five-run bottom half of the inning to jump in front of the Eagles. Pioneer tacked on one more run during the third and shut down Corpus Christi Veterans over the final five innings.
Pioneer’s Juan Rivera went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and one run scored, while Oscar Serna finished 2-for-3 with a two-run homer during the second. Stevie Quintanilla also had one RBI and one run on 1-for-3 hitting.
Pioneer pitcher Isaac Lopez threw 5.2 innings of relief to earn the win, surrendering just two hits and one walk while striking out one.
The Diamondbacks will face Buda Johnson (24-10-1, 11-3) in the Region IV-5A semifinals next week. Game details are to be determined. The Johnson Jaguars advanced to Round 4 by defeating Cedar Park 4-0 in a one-game playoff Friday.
REGION IV-5A QUARTERFINALS
GAME 3: CORPUS CHRISTI RAY 9, McALLEN ROWE 6: At Falfurrias, the Warriors rallied late before ultimately coming up short against the Texans in Game 3 of their third-round playoff series Saturday.
Trailing 9-2 during the seventh, the Warriors posted a four-run final inning but failed to get over the hump. A double by Gabriel Renner scored Yahir Garcia and Jacob Torres followed with an RBI triple to bring in Renner. Ricardo Reyes then hit a two-run homer to left field for the 9-6 final.
The Warriors finish the season as District 31-5A co-champions with a 26-9 overall record. Rowe’s trip to Round 3 was the program’s first in 20 years.
