UIL baseball playoffs: Americas, Pebble Hills win bi-district titles in Class 6A
The Americas baseball team has been steady and consistent all season and that continued in the bi-district round of the Class 6A playoffs, which wrapped up Saturday.
The Trailblazers, who are ranked No. 18 in the state by txhighschoolbaseball.com, defeated Midland Legacy in two games, 8-5 and 11-1.
Americas earned its fifth bi-district championship under the guidance of coach Jesse Munoz and its third straight.
"We have a resilient team, a team that has some swagger," Munoz said. "We have a veteran team and our goal is to get to Round Rock and the state tournament."
Americas defeated Midland Legacy, 8-5, in the opener of the best-of-3 series on Thursday in Midland. Adrian Quintana had an RBI double for the Trailblazers, Gabe Bernal tripled in a run and Santana Hernandez drove in a run to help lead Americas.
On Saturday in the 11-1 series-clinching win, the Trailblazers got two home runs from Hernandez and one from Quintana to lead the way. One of Hernandez' homers was a grand slam. Senior right-hander and Baylor signee, Stephen Sepulveda allowed one run in five innings.
"We just have to keep hitting the ball well, we have to keep working and stay focused," Hernandez said. "We work hard and we'll give it our best effort in the next round."
Americas will face perennial power Southlake Carroll next weekend. The Dragons are coached by El Paso's Larry Vucan. Americas edged the Dragons, 2-1, earlier in the season.
"We respect Southlake Carroll, they have a good team and are well coached," Sepulveda said. "We have a good team as well and we have a great coach in Jesse Munoz. We'll give it our best effort and we're excited about the next round of the playoffs."
Class 6A
Pebble Hills defeated Odessa High in two games to earns its second straight bi-district title. The Spartans won, 7-1, in the opener of the best-of-3 series at Odessa High. Dylan Torres was the winning pitcher, throwing a complete game for the Spartans. On Saturday, Pebble Hills won, 6-5, on a Jacob Ledesma III walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh.
Eastlake was swept by Midland High. The Falcons lost the first game of a best-of-3 games series, 9-4, at Socorro High School. The Falcons led 4-1 early behind home runs from Aaron Alva and Paul Herrera. But the Bulldogs scored four runs in the fifth and four runs in the seventh to pull away. John Langhenning hit a home run and Jacoby Dutchover had an RBI double to lead the way for the Bulldogs. On Saturday, the Falcons lost, 1-0, in eight innings in Midland.
Eastwood was swept by Wolfforth Frenship in Monahans. The Troopers lost Friday, 10-0, and Saturday, 15-8.
Class 5A
Del Valle is headed to the area round for the second straight year after beating Chapin, 12-2, on Friday at Chapin High School. In Thursday's series opener at Del Valle, the Conquistadores scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to edge Chapin, 7-6. Felipe Rodriguez delivered a two-run base hit down the right field line to secure the win. Chapin scored three runs in the top of the seventh to go up 6-4. "We never gave up," Rodriguez said. "We showed so much heart to win this game."
Hanks won two games on Saturday against Canutillo to earn a trip to the area round. Canutillo defeated Hanks, 4-1, in the series opener Friday. The winning pitcher was Isaac Garza. On Saturday, the Knights won 12-0 and 7-5. Jonathan Trevino was the winning pitcher in Saturday's first game, striking out eight and also hitting a home run. In the series clincher, Trevino had two doubles and earned the save on the mound. Eddie Rivera was the winning pitcher.
Horizon is headed to the area round after a series sweep of El Paso High. The Scorpions won 10-0 on Friday as Barry Miller struck out 12 batters. Miller added two hits and Damian Lopez and Joan Perez combined for four hits and three RBI. On Saturday, Horizon won 4-0 as Isaiah Alba pitched a complete-game shutout and struck out 10 batters. Lopez drove in two runs to lead the offense.
Ysleta earned a sweep of Burges in two close games. On Friday, the Indians beat Burges, 10-7, in Friday's game, Evan Martinez hit a 3-run homer in the top of the ninth to give the Indians the lead. Thur-Fe Gurrola had three hits, Jesus Lozano had three hits and Daniel Terrazas had four hits to lead the Indians. On Saturday, YHS defeated the Mustangs, 1-0. Martinez threw a complete-game shutout, gave up five hits and struck out six. Sebastian Duran had the game-winning RBI.
Class 4A
Bowie won the best-of-3 series with Friday's 12-7 home win. On Friday, the Bears won, 4-3. Bowie will play Canyon Randall in the area round next week. Johan Camacho was the winning pitcher on Friday and Gerardo Rodriguez was the winning pitcher on Friday. The Bears won a bi-district title for the first time in six years. "It feels great to get the bi-district title," Rodriguez said. "We played well and gave a great effort."
Riverside won the series against Mountain View, sweeping both games on Friday against the Lobos. Riverside won the first game, 16-0, and the second game, 11-1.
Clint is moving on to area after sweeping Austin, 16-4 and 14-0, on Friday.
San Elizario swept Irvin by scores of 15-7 and 14-4. Andres Navarrete and Julian Morales were the winning pitchers for the Eagles.
Class 3A
Tornillo is headed to the area round after sweeping Lamesa on Friday night in Van Horn. The Coyotes won the first game, 4-1, and won the second game, 14-7. Noe Moreno and Derek Sanchez were the winning pitchers for the Coyotes.
More: Baseball look ahead El Paso players, teams to watch as UIL baseball playoffs begin
Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on Twitter
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UIL baseball playoffs: Americas, Pebble Hills win playoff openers
