Cinco en Mayo

Five Big 7 baseball teams play on in May

 

 

It’s May 1^st and five of the seven baseball teams from the Mission, Sharyland and La Joya school districts, the Big 7, have earned the right to extend their seasons into the 2026 UIL State Playoffs. While they’ve all earned this right by clinching one of their respective district’s four playoff spots, two of the five are entering the playoffs as district champions. Which of the seven are in and which are out? Which two are sitting atop their district’s standings and are now the #1 seeds? Read on for the answers to these questions.

 

Palmview Lobos

For the fifth year in a row, the Palmview Lobos are the District 30-5A champions. Over those five years head coach Manuel “Ricky” Garcia’s team has compiled an impressive 66-4 district record and an equally impressive 126-33-6 overall record. This year the Lobos are 15-1 (22-5-2 overall) as they head into this weekend’s UIL State Playoffs’ best-of-three Bi-district round series against the Corpus Christi Four Bluff Hornets.

 

 

The 10-6 Hornets (23-9-1 overall) are entering the playoffs as District 29-5A’s fourth seed. While Valley teams have for the most part struggled against Flour Bluff teams over the years, the Lobos are entering this series having won all four of their head-to-head matchups against the Hornets. This includes sweeping the Hornets last year in their best-of-three Bi-district round matchup. The Lobos then went on to defeat Nikki Rowe in the Area round (2-1) and New Braunfels in the Regional Semifinals (2-1), before losing to Smithson Valley in the Regional Finals (1-2).

 

The Lobos and the Hornets will be kicking off their Bi-district round series with Game 1 tonight at 7 p.m. Game 2 of this series is scheduled to be played tomorrow at 1 p.m., with game 3 (if necessary) to begin 30 minutes after the completion of Game 2, all at Veterans Field in Laredo, TX.

 

Mission Eagles

Thanks to their 12-4 District 30-5A record (20-7 overall) the Mission Eagles are entering the UIL State Playoffs as district co-runner-ups as they ended district play tied with the 12-4 Rio Grande City Rattlers, who they split their two district games with. By qualifying for the playoffs this year, head Coach Leo Salinas’ Eagles have ended a three year playoff drought.

 

 

The Eagles kicked off their best-of-three Bi-district round playoff series against the 13-3 (27-4 overall) Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial Eagles, who earned the District 29-5A co-championship, Wednesday evening at Cabaniss baseball field in Corpus Christi. They will be playing Game 2 of this series tonight at 5:30 at Mission High School’s Leo Najo Field. Game 3 of this series (if necessary) will begin 30 minutes after the completion of Game 2, also at Leo Najo Field.

 

According to MaxPreps, Mission has only played CC Veterans once before and that was a 6-0 loss in 2023. Overall, the Eagles are 1-7 against Corpus Christi teams over the past 18 years. However, all that matters now is how they do against CC Vets in this series and that is certainly all Coach Salinas and his boys are focusing on.

 

Sharyland Rattlers

With 11 wins in a row, the Sharyland Rattlers are entering the UIL State Playoffs this week as one of the hottest teams in south Texas. In addition, their 15-1 District 31-5A record (28-3 overall) has not only earned them the district championship, but it has also earned them the eighth spot in the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association most recent Top 10 5A poll. As a matter of fact, the Rattlers are the only Valley team to have earned a spot in any of the THSBCA’s polls; 2A – 6A.

 

Head Coach Austin Bickerton’s Rattlers opened their best-of-three Bi-district round playoff series against the 11-7 (15-12 overall) Donna Redskins last night at Donna High School. Game 2 of this series is scheduled to be played tonight at 7 p.m. at Sharyland High School. Game 3 of this series (if necessary) will be played tomorrow at 3 p.m. in Donna.

 

Last year, the Rattlers defeated the Brownsville Lopez Lobos (2-1) in the Bi-district round and the Mission Veterans Patriots (2-0) in the Area round before losing to the Boerne Champion Chargers (0-2) in the Regional Semi-final round.

 

Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks

A little over two weeks ago, the Pioneer Diamondbacks controlled their own destiny in regards to claiming at least a share of the District 31-5A championship. However, an 11-0 loss to the Sharyland Rattlers followed by an 8-0 loss to Nikki Rowe ended any championship aspirations head Coach Adrian Leal and his Diamondbacks may have had. Even so, the 12-4 (21-10 overall) Diamondbacks have punched their ticket into the UIL State Playoffs and will be taking on the 16-2 (20-7 overall) Harlingen South Hawks in a best-of-three Bi-district round playoff series.

 

 

Historically speaking, the Diamondbacks have had their way with Harlingen South as they’ve won six of the eight games they’ve played against them. This includes winning their best-of-three Bi-district round series against the Hawks last year 2-1. Who will win this year’s series remains to be determined, but it will be determined soon. That’s because Game 1 of this series was played last night at Harlingen South High School while Game 2 is scheduled to be played tonight at 7 p.m. at Pioneer High school and Game 3 (if necessary) will be played tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Harlingen South.

 

La Joya Coyotes

Quick, not counting the COVID shortened 2020 season, how many years in a row has the La Joya Coyotes’ baseball team qualified for the playoffs; A) Less than five, B) Between five and 10 or C) Between 10 and 15? If you said C) Between 10 and 15, you are correct! That’s because thanks to their second place District 31-6A finish this season, the Coyotes have now qualified for the UIL State Playoffs for 13 years in a row! As a matter of fact, according to MaxPreps, over the past 19 years, the Coyotes have only missed out on the playoffs once! Now that’s a successful program!

 

 

Over those 19 years, the Coyotes have been led by four different head coaches: current La Joya High head football coach and athletic coordinator Reuben Farias, Alex Guajardo, Mario Flores and now, in his second year, Guadalupe “Wally” Barrera.

 

Last year Barrera and his Coyotes went up against the Los Fresnos Falcons in the Bi-district round of the playoffs and lost their best-of-three series 0-2. This year the 7-3 (27-6 overall) Coyotes are opening the playoffs against the 5-3 (17-10-3 overall) Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers with Game 1 having been played last night at Brownsville Veterans, Game 2 being played tonight at 7 p.m. at La Joya High School and Game 3 (if necessary) being played tomorrow at 4 p.m. back at Brownsville Veterans.