The Harlingen South Hawks lost a heartbreaker to the Los Fresnos Falcons on the first of their two-game series on Tuesday.
Holding a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh, the Hawks gave up two singles and a sacrifice fly to draw the game level. After two back-to-back walks to load the bases, the Hawks gave up a third walk to bring home a walk-off run for the Falcons’ win.
Despite the loss, Harlingen South head coach Chris Gracia believes there are plenty of lessons left to learn from it.
“Well, we learned a few things,” said Gracia. “First off, this district is full of really good teams and we will be in for a fight like that every game. We have got to get better at moving runners over when we get them on because the little things will make a huge difference in tight games.
“We also have to work at trying to put teams away and finish games. Even though we lost a tough one, it gives us big-time experience for the close games that we will be in down the road.”
Harlingen South plays Los Fresnos on the return leg of the series at home on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
CLASS 4A:Rio Hondo saw its two-game win streak snapped by Grulla on Tuesday. After starting District 32-4A at 2-0 with wins over Raymondville (8-4) and La Feria (14-9), the Gators were able slow down the Bobcats enough for a 3-1 victory.
“I think we need to continue giving ourselves a chance behind some good pitching,” said Rio Hondo head coach Sergio Gonzalez. “We were able to locate our pitches and keep them (Grulla) off balance by mixing up our speeds. Our ace Christian Garza has had some great outing for us all year.
“On Saturday against Hidalgo, we need to continue throwing strikes and playing good defense. We will throw Cross Gonzalez on Saturday, who pitched five strong innings for us against La Feria in our last win.”
The Bobcats’ Saturday game against Hidalgo is at 10 a.m. at Rio Hondo.
The Raymondville Bearkats were another 4A team on the losing end of a close game Tuesday. After giving up some key mistakes late in the game, a tenacious La Feria team was able to defeat the Kats 7-4.
Despite the loss, Raymondville head coach Judson Savage has confidence that his young team can take in its mistakes and learn from them.
“I think that as a team we continue to mature and learn from our mistakes,” said Savage. “Our young guys like Nathaniel Garcia, Darren Ramirez and Derick Ramirez are being lifted up from their mistakes by our upperclassman players like Deion Castillo, Noe Zambrano and Daniel Gutierrez.
“We are going to right this ship and get back on track and aim to start that when we play Saturday.
The Bearkats host Grulla at 10 a.m. Saturday.
