Ford, McHi end Lobos’ season

The old adage that everything can change in a baseball game with one swing of the bat rang true Saturday evening. McAllen High's hopes in the Texas Class 5A baseball playoffs stayed alive in large part due to Tim Ford's towering homer over the leftfield wall at Lopez High School.

After falling 6-3 in Game 2 to a fiery Lopez baseball team earlier in the day, McHi looked flat and was outplayed through five innings trailing 3-0 heading into the sixth frame of the third and deciding game of their area round series with the Lobos. Ford's (estimated) 350-foot shot opened the floodgates on a five-run inning that proved to be decisive. He finished three-for-five with a home run, a double, two RBIs, two walks and a stolen base in the doubleheader.

"I was just waiting for a pitch and it looked good so I swung at it," Ford said. "It was a fastball, high and inside. I knew it had the distance, but I didn't know if it was going to stay fair or not. I almost missed first base rounding it."

The solo-jack ignited the Bulldog faithful and the rest of the team to the late inning rally. A double by Adrian Leal, three Bulldog singles, a pair of errors and a wild pitch were all part of an avalanche that was out of character with the rest of the action Saturday.

In the end, McHi did what it had to to win and advance. They will face a familiar foe in District 30-5A rival La Joya in the regional quarterfinals at a time and date to be determined later.

"We were flat the whole game in Game 3 (until the sixth)," McHi coach Eliseo Pompa said. "It seemed like the dugout was dead, the coaches were dead, nothing was going right. I think the homer sparked us, it opened up our chance to win."

The Bulldogs (23-12) also received gritty, complete game performances from pitchers Marshall Miller (2 K's, 3 BB's, 5 hits in the Game 2 loss) and James Franz (7 K's, 2 walks, 6 hits).

Franz picked up the all-important win in Game 3, doing so after a shaky three-run first frame. Pompa wisely kept the southpaw in the game who rebounded to finish with an excellent outing. In fact, Franz allowed only one hit after the third inning.

"They're tough mentally (Miller and Franz)," Pompa said. "I'm real proud of the way they hung in there. Of course James (Franz) did a heck of a job for us but I also appreciate the job Marshall Miller did for us because he threw about 40 pitches in the first inning but he hung in there and we had a chance to win and we didn't come through for him.

"He fought and that's what I like about my kids you know, they never give up."

Lopez played solid for 13½ innings with several strong performances from the usual suspects. Mague Trevino went 2-4 with three RBIs in Game 2 alternating between catching and pitching. He closed Game 2 and started Game 3 pitching two innings in each contest.

Justin Granado finished 3-7 on the day with a double and a RBI. He was also the winning pitcher in the opening match, finishing with two K's, three walks while allowing only five hits.

Lopez's hulking first baseman Michael Sanchez was instrumental in Game two batting 2-3 with a RBI and a run scored.

A disappointed Lopez coach Albert Leal kept a positive attitude following the games.

"I think some people picked us fifth or fourth in our district, so I'm real proud of these kids," he said. "It was a roller coaster ride with them, they always fought back and never gave up. I think we lose one starter next year in Mikey Sanchez and you know that's going to be a big loss for us but we're real excited about the kids that are coming back."