Pharr baseball team to play in Colt World Series

The whirlwind tour for the Pharr Raiders baseball team continues Saturday night when they open play at the Colt World Series in Lafayette, Ind.

The Raiders, sponsored by the Pharr Boys and Girls Club, are grouped with the host team, Czech Republic and Gurabo, Puerto Rico. The eight-team tournament will have group play through Tuesday. The semifinals will be Wednesday and the championship is Thursday.

“I feel really good about this team,” the team’s coach Joe Barbosa said. “We have a lot of talent. I’m so proud of them, and they give me all they have. I might yell at them sometimes, but they have still stayed with me.”

The tournament is open to players who are 15 and 16 years old. Two years ago, a team from McAllen won the same tournament.

The Raiders are comprised of 10 players from Pharr, one from Mission, one from Alamo and one from Donna. Barbosa has coached the Pharr players since they were 5-year-olds and playing in t-ball.

“As soon as I started coaching them, I knew they had the talent (to get to a World Series),” Barbosa said. “They just love the sport.”

The team has players who are mostly on sub-varsities in high school. Three have varsity experience including pitcher-shortstop Alex Gutierrez of PSJA North, third baseman Jorge Perez of PSJA North, first baseball-pitcher Jacob Garcia of PSJA North and pitcher-center fielder Eric Gutierrez of Sharyland. Barbosa’s son, Brian, a freshman at PSJA North, is also on the team.

The Raiders advanced to the World Series by winning the South Regional championship last Saturday in Marietta, Ga. Pharr defeated a team from Brownsville in the regional final. Gutierrez had two home runs against Brownsville. Earlier in the regional tournament, Barbosa said Gutierrez hit a homer to straight-away center field.

From Georgia, the team flew to Indiana, where they been this week preparing for their tournament opener, which comes against Lafayette at 7:30 Saturday night.

Pharr finished first and second in local qualifiers in McAllen and Harlingen to qualify for the South Regional tournament.

“We’ve been all over the place,” Barbosa said. “Let’s see how our bosses at work feel about it.”

Barbosa said the team has received a lot of financial support from the players’ parents. They have received some money through sponsorship, the Pharr Boys and Girls Club and the City of Pharr, Barbosa said.

“We’ve all pitched in,” Barbosa said. “And that’s good because we deserve to be here. We’ve stuck together and found a way to be here.”

David Hinojosa covers sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4442 or at dhinojosa@themonitor.com.

Colt World Series

Lafayette, Ind.

Saturday’s games

Czech Republic vs. Gurabo, Puerto Rico, noon

Hoosier North vs. Greensboro, N.C., 2:30 p.m.

Covina, Calif. vs. Mexico, 5 p.m.

Pharr vs. Lafayette, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday’s games

Hoosier North vs. Covina, Calif., noon

Pharr vs. Czech Republic, 2:30 p.m.

Mexico vs. Greensboro, N.C., 5 p.m.

Gurabo, Puerto Rico vs. Lafayette, 7:30 p.m.

Monday’s games

Mexico vs. Hoosier North, 5 p.m.

Greensboro, N.C. vs. Covina, Calif., 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday’s games

Gurabo, Puerto Rico vs. Pharr, 5 p.m.

Czech Republic vs. Lafayette, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday’s games

Semifinals, 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Thursday’s game

Championship, 7 p.m.