Lopez routs Rivera for BISD title

The bats came alive early and often, and Lopez never looked back.

The Lobos cruised to an 11-0, five-inning win over Rivera in the final game of the Brownsville Classic Baseball Tournament on Saturday at Lopez. Miguel Benavidez was stellar on the mound, giving up just two hits and one run in six innings of work en route to picking up the victory.

Lopez put up a six-run first, fronted by back-to-back doubles by Justin Granado and Carlos Rodriguez to lead off the game. After a walk and a forceout, Enrqiue Negrete smoked the ball down the left-field line to plate two more. Victory Gayton followed with a triple, and Albert Arrizmendi added an RBI single. Benavidez finished off the scoring with a sacrifice fly.

In all, 10 Lobos came to the plate in what was a very difficult inning for Rivera starter Jason Martinez.

"We hit the ball this weekend," Lopez coach Albert Leal said. "With solid defense and hitting the ball, you’re going to win a lot of games."

The win sent Lopez to 12-3 on the season, while Rivera dropped to 3-9.

Benavides faced just 20 hitters, with only four reaching base. He effectively mixed in his fastball and curveball, stifling the Raiders hitters while working quick innings to get his offensive back up at the plate.

"He doesn’t overpower anybody," Leal said. "He hits his spots, throws his curveball for a strike, throws his slider for a strike … We knew he was going to pitch the championship game for us."

The Lobos added another run in the second inning when Gayton singled home Rodriguez, who began the inning with a single. Later, Juan Benavidez stole home in the fourth inning after Negrete stole second to give the Lobos an 8-0 lead. Carlos Rodriguez then added a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.

Gayton smoked a two-run home run in the sixth inning to end the game.

Rivera had chance for some runs during the fourth inning, but Sanchez was thrown out at home by Beto Rodriguez after David Soto reach on an error. Sanchez, who started the play at second, appeared to slide in before Gayton applied the tag but was called out.

It summed up what was a frustrating day for the Raiders.

"We needed to put the ball in play a lot more," Rivera coach Boris Vega said. "Miguel threw a good game … he had his curveball working real well."

Martinez threw five-plus innings, giving up all 11 runs on 11 hits with two walks and a hit batsman.

Lopez returns to district play Tuesday against San Benito, while Rivera is set to take on Los Fresnos.

Todd Orodenker writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via e-mail at torodenker@brownsvilleherald.com.