Baseball notebook: Sharyland falls as tournaments wrap up
It took a No. 6 to finally beat No. 7 as the Sharyland Rattlers fell for the first time this season in the finals of their own tournament.
Corpus Christi Carroll, ranked sixth in the state, powered its way through the PEN Tournament this past weekend and beat No. 6 Sharyland 8-1 to win the championship.
The loss marked the first for the Rattlers (17-1), who had won both the McAllen and Corpus Christi tournaments to start the season.
In other Valley tournament action, the PSJA North Raiders (10-5) took home the Harlingen Baseball Bash tournament title after beating Los Fresnos in the finals 14-4.
And in Brownsville, the Lopez Lobos (11-3) picked up their second consecutive BISD tournament title, beating a surprising Rivera team in the finals 11-3.
Some Valley teams also fared pretty well in out-of-area tournaments including Edcouch-Elsa (8-6), which took second place at the Falfurrias Tournament. McAllen Rowe also did well at the Alice Tournament, taking third place as did PSJA in the Calallen Tournament, beating CC John Paul in the third-place final 3-2 on Saturday.
RED RISING: Although head coach Ron Kretz would like to downplay it, his Harlingen Cardinals are doing quite well right now.
At 13-4, the Red Birds have played solid ball so far, winning the consolation title at the Mercedes Knights of Columbus Tournament and taking third in the Harlingen Bash this past weekend. More importantly, the Cards are 1-1 in league play. The Cards opened league action with a 19-7 win against Edinburg North on March 9, but lost to Edinburg High on Wednesday, 9-5. Harlingen is at PSJA Memorial on Friday.
Although the Cards are a relatively young club, players such as sophomore pitchers Kevin Ledesma and Richard McNutt are stepping up and making significant contributions.
YOU READ IT RIGHT: While rain washed out nearly all games on Tuesday, Hidalgo and Progreso pressed on and got their game in. The Red Ants, however, probably wished the game had been postponed as the Pirates pounded them 32-0 in five brutal innings.
The Pirates (11-5) belted out 21 hits and got a solo home run from Jorge Flores and a grand slam from John Pena. Meanwhile, the Pirates defense held the Ants to just one hit as Hidalgo improved to 2-0 in league play.
ON TAP: Thanks to poor weather, the highly anticipated contest between No. 1 Sharyland and No. 2 McAllen was moved to Thursday at 7:30 p.m. along with all other District 30-5A games.
The rain also forced the 32-5A matchup between Los Fresnos and Brownsville Rivera to be moved to Thursday. The game is set for 2 p.m. at Raiders Field.
On Friday, Edinburg hosts PSJA in a key 31-5A contest that could go a long way in determining the early league frontrunner. Meanwhile in District 32-5A, Weslaco heads to Brownsville Hanna while Brownsville Lopez is at San Benito.
