After having clinched a share of the District 32-4A championship against the Mission High School (MHS) Eagles, the Veterans Memorial High School (VMHS) Patriots baseball team claimed the title outright last Friday evening with their 9-4 home field victory over the Rio Grande City Rattlers. With the win, Coach Casey Smith’s Patriots improved their district record to 12-1 (25-4 overall) with only winless PSJA Southwest (0-13) left on their district schedule.

Against Rio Grande, VMHS fell behind when the Rattlers scored two runs on a double, a walk, a passed ball and an errant throw to first base in the top of the second inning. The Patriots responded quickly however when they scored two of their own in the bottom of the frame with J.R. Martinez’ clutch single which drove in teammates Edward Pena and Isaac Guerrero.

VMHS went on to score two additional runs in the third, four in the fifth and one in the sixth innings. Patriots’ pitcher Edward Pena held the Rattlers to single runs in the fifth and the sixth frames for the 9-4 title clinching victory.

Read more: Patriots and Eagles set to open playoffs

As Mission High’s pitcher Gabriella Castillo took the mound at Veterans Memorial High School’s softball field last Friday night she was looking to improve the Lady Eagles’ perfect district record to 12-0. However, it would have to be at the expense of the Lady Patriots.

As the game began and the early innings ensued, the second match-up of the year between what will likely be two of the district’s four playoff teams turned into a back-and-forth battle in which neither team’s lead was safe for very long – that is until the sixth inning when the Lady Eagles took the lead to stay, remaining undefeated and clinching the District 32-4A championship.

After a scoreless inning and a half, it was Coach Vivian Ray’s Lady Patriots who drew first blood as her squad’s bats came to life and Veterans plated two in the bottom of the second to take a 2-0 lead. The lead was short-lived as Mission responded in kind plus one during their next at-bat to give Castillo and the Lady Eagles a 3-2 lead in the third. In the bottom of the fourth inning the Lady Patriots retaliated with three runs of their own to take a 5-3 lead in front of a boisterous and energetic home crowd.

Read more: Lady Eagles defeat Lady Patriots, claim 32-4A title

After defeating the Valley View Lady Tigers in the sectional round of the soccer playoffs last Friday night, the Mission High Lady Eagles’ season came to an end at the hands of the Beeville Lady Trojans Tuesday evening in the Region IV-4A quarterfinals. The final score was 1-0.

In the first game of a Mission High versus Valley View High soccer doubleheader at Tom Landry Stadium Friday, the Lady Tigers and the Lady Eagles seemed to be destined to battle it out for the right to advance to the regional quarterfinals. As the game between the two undefeated district, bi-district and area champions progressed, how closely matched the two teams were became increasingly apparent.

After having scouted Valley View in their area round game against Rio Grande, Lady Eagles’ head coach Aaron Clemons knew that if his girls were to emerge victorious they would have to eliminate, or at least minimize, their free kick opportunities.

Read more: Lady Eagles soar into quarterfinals

At Bill Pate Stadium in Hidalgo last Thursday night Aldo Sanchez did what he’s done best all season long and he did it three times. As District 61-4A’s top scorer, Sanchez scored all of Mission’s goals in their 3-0 area round playoff victory against Hidalgo. The win has the Eagles going up against an undefeated and state-ranked Valley View Tigers team in the sectional round of the state playoffs at Tom Landry Stadium. The game is scheduled to kick off tonight at 8 p.m.

When asked about going up against a team that is ranked among the top 10 in the state and the top 50 in the country by the Elite Soccer Report, Mission coach Christos Barouhas explained how he’s planning on using the Tigers’ rankings to his team’s advantage.

Read more: Eagles embrace underdog role against Valley View

In his fourth year as Veterans Memorial High School’s (VMHS) head baseball coach, Casey Smith has his sights set on winning the first baseball district championship in school history. His plan is to have his players focus on improving each day and let the future take care of itself.

“Primarily our goal is to get better every day,” explained Smith. “That’s something that we talk about with the kids. We use the phrase, ‘win the day.’”

“We feel that if we come to practice every day and win that particular day and not worry about one week from now, or what’s going to happen a month from now, that’s how we get better. And if we can do that we’ll continue to improve. And if we continue to improve, the results will take care of themselves,” added Smith.

Read more: VMHS Patriots out to ‘Win the day’

The move from District 30-5A to 61-4A this year certainly seems to have agreed with the Eagles boys and girls soccer teams. After two years of competing against 5A powerhouses such as Sharyland and Donna for the Eagles and Sharyland and Nikki Rowe for the Lady Eagles, both Mission High teams have risen to the top of their respective 4A districts to claim both titles for the maroon and white.

Adding to their accomplishment this season is the Lady Eagles’ perfect 8-0 district record (19-1-1 overall). This is especially rewarding after having come off of back-to-back losing seasons in which Coach Aaron Clemons’ team failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Achieving such a dramatic turnaround in just one year and going undefeated is exactly what Clemons and his girls set out to do.

Read more: Mission soccer teams cement district titles