Field of Gems

Throughout a grueling and competitive season that was filled with unpredictability, there was ostensibly one thing to count on every Tuesday and Friday.

Henry Garcia.

Whether it was on the mound or with his bat The Brownsville Herald's 2008 All-Metro MVP was consistently the most dangerous player under the lights.

The Porter hurler shutdown the league amassing an 8-2 record with a microscopic 0.47 earned run average striking out 153 bat-ters in 73 innings of work.

Adding to his stellar résumé was his hitting performance finishing with a .375 batting average with 33 RBI's and three triples.

"I think he had one or two bad games all year long where he was off and he still was able to dominate his opponents," Cowboys coach Tony Barbosa said. "He is the ideal kid and a great player."

Asked what he did differently to improve his game from last season Garcia simply said:

"I worked harder and played every game like it was my last."

Leading The Herald's 2008 All-Metro team are the Lopez Lobos with four selections including three in the infield.

Behind the plate was versatile sophomore catcher Mague Trevino who batted .382 with 19 RBI's and busted 6-of-8 attempted run-ners stealing on him this campaign.

On the first base bag was Michael Sanchez (.418 BA, 18 RBI's two home runs) leading all first baseman in batting average in the district.

Lopez infielder Justin Granado was Mr. Dependable at second committing one error the entire season while batting .433 with 24 RBI's leading the Lobos' talented sophomore class.

"Justin has a lot of heart and that's something a coach can't teach," Leal said. "He kept us in a lot of games and was a huge part of the team."

Rounding out the stout infield is Porter's Cristo Torres (.330 BA 18 RBI's with seven walks) and Los Fresnos third baseman J.D. Vela (.392 BA 17 runs, 19 RBI's with on on-base percentage of .516).

Hanna Golden Eagle first team pitcher Ramesh Ramnaire (4-3 record, 1.45 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 36 innings) was the epitome of a staff ace, including a historic performance against Los Fresnos on May 8.

Ramnaire didn't allow one Falcon to reach base safely tossing a rare perfect game that has only been done by 17 major league pitchers over the 100-year history of baseball.

"It was pretty awesome," Ramnaire said. " There was excitement and happiness and I just wanted to lift my team back into the playoff (hunt)."

In the outfield is powerful Pace Viking Miguel Villarreal who batted .385 with three homeruns.

Lobo Juan Benavidez (.402 BA, 12 RBI's and a 1.000 fielding percentage) and Los Fresnos leadoff hitter Jesse Paredes (.402 BA 20 runs, 16 RBI's, 17 HBP and .550 OBP) were integral part of their team's success.

The boys in silver and black were also represented in this years selections with Roman Rocha as the designated hitter and J.J. Sanchez for Newcomer of the Year.

Sanchez pitched two one-hitters as a true freshman ending the season with a 5-3 record (2.66 ERA) and a .198 opponent batting average.

"They were a big reason why we made our playoff run," Rivera coach Eddie Garcia said. "If it wasn't for them we wouldn't have made that run."