HARLINGEN — With scouts watching his every move Saturday, Edinburg North’s Saul Garza gave everyone in attendance a performance to remember.
The senior went 3 for 4 with a walk and had seven RBIs to help rally the Cougars from a 6-2 deficit to defeat the Harlingen Cardinals 11-7 and complete the bi-district series sweep on Saturday afternoon at the Cardinal Field.
Edinburg North will now face McAllen High in the area round later this week.
“Coach (Bryan) Aughney has a good young ballclub and has a good group of seniors that have contributed a lot,” said Edinburg North head coach Damian Gonzalez. “We just have a lot of experience in our club and guys that have been through a lot. We have a team that has won a lot of games, not lost to many, but we’ve been blown out so we have experienced it all, and for them to come here and face some adversity and come back says a lot about the team.”
Trailing 6-2 in the top of the firth, Garza smashed a two-run homer to cut the Cardinals’ lead to within two runs. More importantly, the home run seemed to switch the momentum over to the Cougars bench.
In the top of the sixth Garza struck again, only this time with an RBI-triple down the right-field line that cut Harlingen’s lead to 6-5.
But perhaps the most memorable play of the game came in the top of the seventh. After Edinburg North took a one-run lead off of an obstruction call that allowed Giancarlo Servin to score in the top of the six, Garza hammered a grand slam to give the Cougars a comfortable 11-7 lead in the top of the seventh.
“Saul is a tremendous ball player and there’s a reason why there is a lot of people after him,” said Gonzalez. “The biggest thing about him is that he’s worked hard to get to where he’s at and that’s a big lesson for all our younger kids that are coming along.
“We tend to carry some of our JV players because they need to experience this stuff and learn from guys like Saul.”
The Cardinals finished the season with an overall record of 15-9 after returned to the postseason after a two-year absence.
Seniors Marco Hernandez had two RBI singles (2 for 3), Hayes Duffy was 2 for 4 with an RBI single and Kenny Reininger went 1 for 2 with one RBI.
“I told the guys I want you to compete and I want you to play the game hard,” said Harlingen head coach Bryan Aughney. “Because when we do things and make plays, and flat out compete we put ourselves in a good position to win. And for the most part we did that with the exception of three pitches that killed us. But I’m proud of the way they played, the outcome just wasn’t what we wanted, but the mentality and the way we played is what we’re striving for.
“We’re going to miss our seniors because of the impact on the team, especially on the offensive side of the ball. We have some big shoes to fill and I was really happy about how those guys approached the game along with their leadership roles and hopefully we have some young guys step up because next year we’re pretty junior heavy so next year should be an exciting one.”
