ELSA — Brownsville Veterans’ regular-season finale marked a tale of two innings.
The Chargers began the night by loading the bases with no outs to start the top of the first inning against District 32-5A rival Edcouch-Elsa, but struggled to capitalize.
Vets pushed only one run across home plate before the Yellow Jackets were able to work out an early jam.
But Brownsville Veterans proved a strong finish was more important than a shaky start, pouring it on the Jackets during a 10-run sixth inning after the Chargers found themselves in a similar bases-loaded scenario to lift them to a 13-3 mercy-rule victory Tuesday at Edcouch-Elsa.
“We were struggling at the beginning, but I feel like we came through at the end and got our bats in,” said pitcher Alexis Tamez, who struck out four through five and two-thirds innings to pick up the win. “It was all confidence. I’ve been down lately, but it was just about getting it back with my mojo tonight.”
The Yellow Jackets were able to briefly take a 2-1 lead in the third after a stand-up RBI triple by Mikayla Garcia, followed by a single in the next at-bat by Samantha Saenz.
But what looked initially to be a heated pitchers’ duel was quickly broken up by Brownsville Veterans’ red-hot bats during the final two innings of play.
The Chargers scored 12 straight runs beginning with a two-run blast over the left-field fence by Reggie Santivanez during the fifth.
The offensive onslaught continued during a monster rally to start off the sixth, when Brownsville Vets loaded the bases and batted around the order to score nine runs before the team ran into its first out. Every player in the Chargers’ starting lineup scored during the rally.
“It was just a matter of us getting used to the pitcher and the way she was pitching,” Tamez said. “That’s how we were able to make adjustments.”
“This time our defense was on point,” Santivanez said after a bang-bang out at the plate and acrobatic catch in center field sealed the win. “We messed up a lot (defensively) last time we played them. We helped (Tamez) out this time.”
Brownsville Veterans improves to 14-5 overall and 10-4 in district play, while also earning a season sweep over the Yellow Jackets after winning the teams’ previous meeting 13-12 in extra innings.
The loss drops Edcouch-Elsa to 11-8 on the season and 10-4 against district competition, creating a chaotic scene in 32-5A’s playoff picture amid the final week of the regular season.
A Weslaco East win over Brownsville Pace on Tuesday night moved the Wildcats to 10-3 in District 32-5A and moved them to half a game ahead of both the Chargers and Yellow Jackets with one game remaining Friday at district champion Mercedes.
A Wildcats’ victory in their regular-season finale Friday will lock East into 32-5A’s second seed for the playoffs, while Brownsville Vets would take the third seed and Edcouch-Elsa would be handed the fourth spot by virtue of the Chargers’ two wins over the Jackets.
A Mercedes win over the Wildcats would create a three-way tie for second place between East, Edcouch-Elsa and Vets, who would either face one another in a mini tournament or flip to determine playoff seeding.
“We’re playing as a team now and we have great chemistry,” Santivanez said. “We just need to focus and practice (moving forward), and I think we’ve got it.”
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Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch
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