Sharyland eliminates Edinburg High

EDINBURG - Just a minute or two earlier, Sharyland center fielder Mario Orozco was writhing on the ground in pain during the top of the sixth after fouling a pitch off his left leg. After being helped up to his feet by a teammate and limping to the batter's box, Orozco then drilled a tiebreaking RBI double off Edinburg High pitcher Ricky Villarreal.

Orozco's drive, plus seven more runs over the last two innings sent Sharyland (31-3-1) to a 12-4 win, a sweep of the District 31-5A champion Bobcats and a matchup with Laredo United in the regional quarterfinals.

"(Mario's) been doing that for us all year," Sharyland coach Barton Bickerton said. "He did it against (McAllen High), he came up with a big two-run home run against them to beat them. He's been doing it all year from the nine-hole. We don't put bad hitters in the nine-hole, we put guys that can hit."

Apparently, Bickerton also puts batters in the nine-hole that can deal with a lot of pain. After Orozco fouled the pitch off his own leg, Bickerton had a pinch-hitter get ready.

Orozco, though, insisted on staying in the game.

"It hurt a lot. I already had a scratch on my leg and it was bleeding," Orozco said. "(Bickerton) didn't tell me anything. I just told him ‘I'm ready to play and I'm not coming out of the game.'"

The delay, which included Orozco hobbling up the first-base line and then laying down on the ground and covering his face, lasted about five minutes. In that time, it was possible for Villarreal to lose his concentration.

Edinburg High coach David Kasprzynski said that didn't happen.

"I called the wrong pitch right there," Kasprzynski said of Villarreal's fastball. "You've got a nine-hole hitter who's probably hitting in the high (.300s). That was a mistake on my part."

After that play, the Rattlers scored five more times in the sixth inning, sending 11 batters to the plate. Sharyland also impressed Kasprzynski, whose team's season ends with a 29-8 record.

"How can you take anything away from this season? Twenty-nine wins, I don't know if Edinburg has ever done that, Kasprzynski said. "I mean, 29-8 is 37 games and a lot of baseball. A lot of winning baseball."

Brian Sandalow is a sports writer for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.