LA JOYA — With the 2018 high school baseball season now in the rearview mirror, the annual the Sub-5A RGV East-West All-Star Showcase brought the Rio Grande Valley’s best baseball talent together on one field Saturday and it did not disappoint.
After a 0-0 start to the game, both teams capitalized on mistakes for a 2-2 draw Saturday afternoon.
“It was a good game with both sides pitching very well,” said East head coach Robert Holland of Port Isabel.” You could see that both sides had good pitchers, but as the game went on tiredness kicked in.”
And the weather might have been to blame as temperatures hovered around the low 90s for much of the game. But after 4 1/2 scoreless innings, the East’s Daniel Gutierrez of Raymondville crossed the plate on a passed ball for the game’s first run.
After reaching first base on an error by the third baseman a few pitches earlier, Gutierrez was vigilant as the ball passed through the catcher’s legs.
Two pitches later the East team scored another run after another passed ball allowed Port Isabel’s Jose Martinez to double the East’s lead at 2-0.
With victory within reach, the West All-Star team threatened to not only tie the game but win the whole thing.
With a runner on first and zeros across the board, Monte Alto’s Mathew Baxter smashed a line drive down the left side of the park for an RBI double to bring in Falfurrias’ Abel Garcia from first base to cut the East’s lead down to one. But it did not stop there.
The momentum carried on as Zapata’s Franco Arce hit a grounder down the middle of the park that scored Baxter and tied the game at 2-2.
“This team united and they became friends,” said Holland of the East squad. “They compete against each other throughout the year, and now they got to know each other and they cheered for each other.
