Three to Sweet 16
Rattlers, Lobos, and Coyotes move onto Regional Semifinals
Winning is an alienating accomplishment. A collective effort? Yes. But it isolates you, sets you apart from those who haven’t and those who can’t—winning marks the legacy of competitors with fearless souls and voracious might. Three Big 7 teams remain in the UIL State baseball playoffs, all carving their own legacies with each passing inning. The Sharyland Rattlers, La Joya Palmview Lobos, and La Joya Coyotes will all battle central Texas teams in the Regional Semi-Finals this weekend. Each grinding inch by inch, pushing further into the rarified space of champions.
Here’s a brief rundown of how it happened and what’s to follow:
La Joya Coyotes:
Record: 30-6, 7-3
Not seeing the La Joya Coyotes advance to the Regional Semi-Finals feels strange at this point. The Coyotes are making their fourth third-round appearance in the last six years. The Coyotes enter their series against the Dripping Springs Tigers (25-13-1, 10-3) on a five-game winning streak, having won 21 of their last 24 games.
The Coyotes advanced by defeating the senior-laden Medina Valley Panthers (22-10, 9-3), who tied the Laredo United Longhorns as district champions, in the Area round. In Game 1, the Coyotes outlasted the Panthers in extra innings by a final score of 8-7 thanks to the plate heroics of Axel Pulido, Rolando Solis, and Joaquin Barrientos, who all combined for seven hits. Solis followed the performance with another multi-hit game in support of junior Alex Bocanegra, who pitched seven innings and threw four strikeouts en route to a 3-1 Game 2 victory.
“The offense is something I have to commend right off the bat. The hitters have really poured the runs in. It’s easy to pitch when your team is scoring runs for you. Offensively, we’ve been a big threat throughout the year. But it helps when you’ve got big arms that can come through, shut down opponents, and keep the lead when we have it. That’s been big for us, and it will be even bigger now in the playoffs,” La Joya head coach Guadalupe “Wally” Barrera said when describing the Coyotes’ winning efforts.
Seniors like Solis and Matthew Ortiz have been stabilizing forces inside the Coyotes’ lineup all year, especially this postseason. This season, Solis has 38 hits and 24 RBI, while Ortiz has 50 hits and 45 RBI. With that duo surrounded by the brilliant sophomore trio of Gael Zambrano, Pulido, and Samuel De Leon, the Coyotes have one of the best lineups in the Region.
The Tigers are one year removed from a State Semifinal appearance after besting one of the Coyotes district foes, the PSJA Bears, in last year’s 6A Region IV Regional Final. If the Coyotes advance alongside the Bears, who’ll face the Austin Westlake Chaparrals, the Regional Champions will be crowned in the RGV: the moment, the consequences, all of it’s historic. The Coyotes aren’t just occupying that history, they’re shaping it. All they ask is for one more weekend to memorialize the effort.
“We haven’t had the opportunity to get to the Elite 8, but it’s something we’re looking forward to doing and creating that history for La Joya High School. What I told the guys as we departed practice earlier today was ‘Expect nothing less than good competitive baseball. You have to continue to play your best baseball. They are a good ball club, but at the end of the day, so are we’”, Barrera said when asked about expectations for this weekend’s series.
The Coyotes opened their best-of-three Regional Semifinal series against Dripping Springs with Game 1 last night. Game 2 is scheduled to be played tonight at 7 p.m. and Game 3 (if necessary) will be played tomorrow at 1 p.m.; all at Calallen High School.
La Joya Palmview Lobos
Record: 26-7-2, 15-1
Last weekend, the La Joya Palmview Lobos defeated the McAllen Nikki Rowe Warriors to claim their second consecutive Area championship. The Lobos came from behind to steal Game 1 by a final score of 4-3 at home, then turned around the very next day and beat the Warriors 9-2 behind the arm of senior ace and team captain Jaime Cordova, an infusion of young talent in the lineup, and a wily and meticulous coaching staff that’s been coaching kids to play that way for 18 years.
“We worked on every possible thing that can happen in a baseball game,” Head Coach Manuel “Ricky” Garcia said when asked about early week preparation for the challenge ahead.
The Lobos have outscored their opponents 23-9 this postseason. Their pitching staff, including seniors Joseph Martinez and Cordova, along with sophomore Osi Lopez, has combined for 36 strikeouts, with Martinez and Lopez maintaining sub-2.0 ERAs.
“If those three guys are on, I honestly believe we’ll do well in winning the game. If those three pitchers are on, we’re a dangerous team,” Garcia said when describing the Lobos’ dominant pitching staff.
The Lobos postseason plate exploits, led by Martinez, and sophomores Javier Gonzalez and Jaden Gutierrez (20 combined hits), should continue, considering the explosive improvement in their latest playoff series.
“I think we can do it. The kids will be ready to go and keep on hitting the ball well. They’ve been having good practices. Today, they hit the ball well. We also know they have a good, solid pitcher, which Flour Bluff had as well. So, hopefully we can hit,” Garcia said about the Lobos’ lineup.
Last year, the Lobos stormed back from a 1-0 series deficit to beat the New Braunfels Unicorns after outscoring them 14-5 to end the series. They’ll face another District 26-5A foe, the Boerne Champion Chargers (31-6-1, 13-3), for a spot in the Regional Finals. The Chargers won the district title in that league over last year’s 5A D1 finalists, Smithson Valley, the same team the Lobos lost to in the Regional Finals one year ago.
There aren’t many programs that can compete with what the Lobos have built since their inaugural season, especially within the last five years. The Lobos have won no fewer than 24 games in each of those years, and they’ve won District and Bi-District Championships in each year as well. This weekend’s matchup versus the Chargers is the latest episode of that history.
“[Expect] nothing different. We’re just going to keep playing ball the Lobo way,” Garcia said about what to expect from his team.
The Lobos opened their best-of-three Regional Semifinal series against Boerne-Champion with Game 1 last night. Game 2 is scheduled to be played today at 5 p.m. and Game 3 (if necessary) will be played 30 minutes after the completion of Game 2.; all at Sinton High School.
Sharyland Rattlers
Record: (32-3, 15-1)
The Sharyland Rattlers haven’t lost since March and have only dropped one game in their last 24. In total, the Rattlers have only dropped three games, which were all decided by one run. Last weekend, that trademark consistency and wellspring of success empowered the seventh ranked Rattlers to a 2-0 series sweep over the formidable Corpus Christi Ray Texans. Today, their playoff journey continues as they gear up to face the Liberty Hill Panthers (25-9-1, 10-4) in the Regional Semi-Finals, their first appearance since 2019.
The Rattlers dismantled the Texans behind two clutch performances on the mound from senior ace Sergio “Checo” Ibarra and sophomore lefty phenom Emilio Villarreal. Ibarra’s strong complete game, four strikeouts vs the Texans, earned them victory in Game 1, while Villarreal’s complete game, six-strikeout domination of the Texans earned them the sweep. Ibarra and Villarreal are both undefeated this postseason, with each having surrendered only six runs.
The Rattlers were equally dominant on defense and at the plate, crushing timely hits and securing crucial outs at every key juncture of the series. The Rattlers’ lineup secured 10 hits while the Rattlers defense only committed one error, en route to handing the Texans only their second shutout loss of the season. Luis Balderas, Nic Valdez, Santiago Soto, and freshman I.J. Garza had multiple hits, and Soto, along with star catcher Luis Cienfuegos, led the Rattlers in put-outs with 16 between the pair.
The Rattlers will face the Liberty Hill Panthers, who won their Area Round series by outscoring San Antonio MacArthur 15-0 in a two-game sweep, tonight at Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi. The Panthers’ top two pitchers, Jordan Andrews and Tyler Dominguez, are both experienced seniors who totaled a combined 15 strikeouts against the Brahmas. The Rattlers, who are no strangers to tough pitching, will need to play with the same level of urgency and plate awareness they’ve displayed all season. If things get hairy, the Rattlers’ pitching depth, including Edgar Quintanilla, Rabath Vargas, and Heber Garza, should be able to right the ship. Regardless, the Rattlers are prepared for it all.
The Rattlers will be opening their best-of-three Regional Semifinal series against Liberty Hill with Game 1 tonight at 6 p.m. Game 2 is scheduled to be played tomorrow at 12 p.m. and Game 3 (if necessary) will be played 30 minutes after the completion of Game 2.; all at Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi.
