Edinburg Vela rallies for runaway win over Houston Westside at Border Olympics
LAREDO, Texas — Edinburg Vela utilized a combination of solid pitching, a great offense and a defense that came up with key plays in clutch moments.
That was the formula the SaberCats used to beat Houston Westside 7-1 on Friday, the second day of the 37th Annual Whataburger of Alice Border Olympics Baseball Showcase.
Edinburg Vela's Martin Pena was the SaberCats' mainstay on the mound, as the right-hand pitcher only gave up two hits in four innings of work.
Pena kept Houston Westside off balance the entire game, as the Wolves lone hit came during the opening inning on a double by Jaiden McKinny that drove Trace Mobley in to score.
McKinny's early double helped Houston Westside take a 1-0 lead, but it was short lived.
The Sabercats started to rally during the second inning. Westside's Aiden Canales opened the game with back-to-back walks before settling in and forcing Vela into three consecutive outs to get out of a tricky spot and end the inning.
After a quiet second inning, Edinburg Vela tested Canales on the mound and drew three straight walks to load the bases. Pena was hit by a pitch to put him on first base. His courtesy runner, Derek Rodriguez, scored on a wild pitch after he stole second base.
Isaias Castro and Phillip Hernandez were also issued walks and scored on a sacrifice fly by lead-off batter Ryan Botello, as Edinburg Vela moved ahead 3-1.
Houston Westside went silent the rest of the game as the Wolves visibly struggled at the plate. For the next two innings the Wolves had no hits and only reached base on four walks and a pair of errors but could never capitalize.
On the other spectrum Edinburg Vela utilized a combination of walks, errors, hits and savvy base running that produced four runs.
Jayden Martinez opened the fourth inning by drawing a walk and it was followed by another base on ball by Jake Dufner to load the bases.
Houston Westside was able to turn a double play but Edinburg Vela managed to score four runs. Dufner scored on a wild pitch.
The Sabercats also had runs from Rodriguez, Castro and Hernandez on a two RBI double by Justin Navarro as Edimburg Vela took a 7-1 lead. Edinburg Vela was able to go through the line up that came full circle as Martinez went to the plate for his second time in the inning but Houston Westside was able to get the final out.
The Wolves' bats continued to stay cold, as Westside never got any offensive momentum going during the fourth inning. With the game well in hand, the Sabercats reserve players got their opportunities at the plate.
Edinburg Vela (4-1) will return to action to wrap up the Border Olympics tournament against the Corpus Christi King Mustangs (2-3) at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, at Krueger Field in Laredo.
Check out SBLive's exclusive photo gallery from the game:
PHOTO GALLERY — EDINBURG VELA 7, HOUSTON WESTSIDE 1
All photos by Clara Sandoval
