LOS FRESNOS — The Los Fresnos Falcons put themselves in the record books by beating Edinburg Vela 2-1 in a Region IV-6A quarterfinal one-game playoff Friday night at Los Fresnos High School to punch their ticket to Round 4 of the postseason for the first time in school history.
“This is a great win for our program. First time going to the fourth round, it’s just great for these kids,” Los Fresnos baseball head coach Rene Morales said. “It’s something that nobody can take away from these kids, going to the fourth round. It’s something we’ve always talked about getting past the third round, which has been tough for us. When you get to the third round, you’re facing quality teams and tonight we were just lucky. That last inning, we made up some clutch hits here, had some bounces go our way, and I’m just happy for this team we have here.”
Tied at 1-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, Los Fresnos (21-6, 11-3) loaded the bases with one out after putting runners on the corners and an intentional walk from Vela (21-5, 13-3).
That’s when Germain Castillo hit a grounder to second. The ball was fielded and tossed to the shortstop for out No. 2, but the throw to first for the potential double-play went just past the glove of Vela’s first baseman to allow one run to score.
“What a game. This is a classic of all-time,” Edinburg Vela baseball head coach Jaime Perez said. “It was a darn good game. We had to scratch and claw for ours. They put the ball in play a little bit. We knew it was going to come down to one mistake, and unfortunately it was us, but it’s baseball. Baseball has been on our side all year long. We kind of walked the edge in this one and it got us in the end. We made some moves here and I thought put us in a pretty good situation. Ground ball, if we had to do that play 1,000 times, we make it 999, but that one time happened right there and it is what it is.”
With runners on first and second during the bottom of the fourth, Los Fresnos’ Juan Garcia singled to left field to score Matthew Padilla for a 1-0 lead.
After Vela first baseman Matthew Perez drew a walk during the top of the fifth inning, pinch runner Justin Navarro navigated his way to third with some savvy base-running. Ivan Mendoza followed up by hitting a hard ground ball to left field to bring in a SaberCats run, tying the game at 1-1.
Both starting pitchers, Los Fresnos’ Victor Loa and Edinburg Vela’s Carlos Peña, were lights out on the mound for their teams.
Loa carried a perfect game into the fifth inning, while Peña surrendered just one run on six hits across 6.1 innings.
In the end, however, Los Fresnos’ Texas State signee Loa locked up the victory after a year of battling adversity in the form of injury. He threw a complete game with 14 strikeouts while allowing one earned run on one hit and two walks.
“He’s a great competitor. He’s going to compete his butt off and give us everything he’s got,” Morales said. “Even when he was hurt, he was out here competing in everything he could do. He’s just got that It-factor.”
It was just his fifth game of the season, but Loa now has three wins with all three coming during the Falcons’ current playoff run. It’s a long way from his freshman season in which Edinburg Vela ended Los Fresnos’ season in Round 3 of the playoffs.
“Ever since I walked into this program my freshman year, I knew what we were capable of. We fell short to them my freshman year and Vela is always a tough ball club to face,” Loa said. “It was just adversity for me and the guys here, and we just used it as fuel for our fire. Being able to advance to the fourth round for the first time in program history, it’s just surreal.”
The Falcons move on to the Region IV-6A semifinals for a Round 4 matchup against Round Rock. Game details are to be determined.
Despite the defeat, Edinburg Vela’s Perez was proud of his group for overcoming odds and batting into Round 3 of the playoffs. Four-year letterman and team captain Jaime Perez Jr., coach Perez’s son, stood up and spoke to his teammates after the game telling them how much the experience meant to him.
“It’s hard to say goodbye to these seniors, but saying bye to No. 5 (Jaime Perez Jr.) really is heartfelt. What a journey with No. 5.,” coach Perez said. “My boy has helped establish this program along with the guys that are with him. All the seniors that have put forth a massive effort to put us where we’re at right now is second to none. I think what we’ve done is unbelievable.”
