Brownsville waits, wins
Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter
Brownsville outfielder Alexis Lopez makes a running catch at the wall for an out against Manchester.
Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter
Brownsville players celebrate their win over Manchester in an elimination game Monday evening.
Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter
Manchester’s Logan Whitney is safe at third base as Brownsville’s Emilio Herrera applies a tag.
Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter
Brownsville’s Jorge Garza, Jr. (35) slaps five with Jeremiah Vela after they scored runs Monday against Manchester.
Brownsville wanted to make a statement early.
The South Zone champion:
A. Needed to beat Manchester, N.H., to keep its 2021 Pony League World Series alive and
B. Wanted to put Sunday’s gutting 3-2 loss to Johnstown behind them as quickly as possible.
First pitch was at 10 a.m., so ideally, manager Ruben Lopez and his coaching staff were hoping for that statement to come between 10 and 10:30.
Instead, everybody had to wait.
And wait.
And wait.
And wait some more.
With two outs in the top of the first and Brownsville having scored the game’s first run on a two-out single by Nehemiah Garcia, the rain delay commenced, and the teams didn’t play again for six hours and 49 minutes.
Sure, it gave players like Garcia, who was nursing a strained back, time to rest. But it also created terrible suspense. Scoring a run in the first was fine, but the Texans wanted more.
“The kids were a little impatient,” Brownsville coach Juan Garza said. “I tried to talk to them, tried to control them and make sure that they were not too excited because we knew we had to come back and play the game.”
When it was finally time to play, Brownsville played quite well. With the top of the first still in progress, Miguel Soto drove in a pair to push the lead to three. Brownsville never lost command of the game – which lasted five innings – winning 8-1 and setting up a rematch with Johnstown today at 2.
In just one half inning, Brownsville matched its combined run total from its first two World Series games.
“Oh, that was huge,” Garza said. “That was huge for the boys because we’d been struggling with the bats. The boys came through with the big hits.”
Of course, anybody who has followed Brownsville, even just over the past few days, knows that the team can pitch. Any staff that strikes out 24 batters while walking just one, which Brownsville did in Friday night’s opener against San Jose, Calif., has something going for it.
Garcia is on the back end of Brownsville’s depth chart but pitched like a No. 1. After relieving Jorge Garza Jr. with one out in the first, Garcia, bad back and all, pitched the next 3 2/3 innings, giving up one hit, walking two and striking out six.
“He was great,” Juan Garza said. “He’s one of the ones that he can count on. We know he’s always on.”
“My fastball was working pretty good,” Garcia said. “For a couple of innings, my curveball was not really that good, and then the last two innings, it started coming back.”
Garcia moved from shortstop to the mound after Manchester got one run in its half in the first. With runners at the corners and nobody out, Dillon Gaudet broke for second. When he was caught stealing, Ryan Dutton ran home to make it 3-1.
Thanks to Garcia, it’d be the New Hampshire team’s only run.
Brownsville atoned for a minor setback in the second, aided by defensive mistakes. With one on and one out, Alexis Lopez hit what looked like a double-play ball. But it went through shortstop Henry Dubois’ legs, and a potential inning-ender turned into runners at the corners with one out.
Manchester gave another out away one batter later. Miah Vela hit a grounder to third, and it looked like Javier Garcia was dead at home plate. But an error by third baseman Maddox Turck allowed Garcia to score.
A double by Jorge Garza Jr. made it 6-1. Then, Nehemiah Garcia’s second and third RBI put the game to bed in the fourth. Garcia went 3-for-3 with three RBI and two runs, while Jorge Garza Jr. went 3-for-3 with a pair of runs and a double.
As Manchester coach Micah Durham said, Brownsville does a lot of things well.
“You know, they’re a disciplined team, for one,” Durham said. “They do have good pitching, but they have phenomenal defense. So they really have everything.”
It was the end of Manchester’s first PONY League World Series journey. Although the champions of the East went 1-2, Durham had little to regret.
“It was an unbelievable experience,” Durham said. “We had a great team, and I couldn’t be happier, honestly.”