La Joya beats Sharyland, takes control of District 30-5A

MISSION — The La Joya Coyotes just keep getting better.

In a battle of ranked District 30-5A teams Friday, third-rated La Joya utilized a 13-hit offensive attack en route to knocking off No. 4 Sharyland 9-5 and taking over solo possession of first place. The Coyotes improved to 18-2, 4-0 in district.

“We got big hits at key times,” La Joya coach Rueben Farias said. “We were able to come through with clutch hitting that carried us.”

Justin Garza broke a tie at 4 in the sixth inning with a towering solo home run, and the Coyotes added four insurance runs during the seventh to preserve the victory. Javier Acevedo, Juan Martinez, Roy Garcia, Cruz Garcia and Adrian Pena all had two hits apiece for La Joya.

Meanwhile, Sharyland suffered its first district loss in 1 1/2 years. The Rattlers (14-5, 3-1) drop into a second-place tie with Rio Grande City after RGC blanked McAllen High 5-0 on Friday at home.

“We can’t continue making errors the way we have the past two games,” Sharyland coach Barton Bickerton said. “We’ve made four errors in each of the past two games. You can’t do that in our district and expect to win.”

The Rattlers were coming off an emotional 8-6 nine-inning victory over McHi on Tuesday.

Sharyland had senior right-hander Ismael Tijerina (4-2) on the mound Friday looking for a big home victory. Tijerina threw 129 pitches before being relieved by Marco Rodriguez in the seventh.

La Joya countered with sophomore ace left-hander Miguel Pena (4-1, two saves), who allowed 12 hits and struck out six to gain credit for the win. He threw 116 pitches and was able to get out of a big jam in the fifth inning when right fielder Adrian Pena threw out Cesar Guerrero trying to score from second on a single to right by Tijerina. Martinez also threw out a runner trying to steal third in the fourth inning.

“They came through when they needed and we didn’t,” Bickerton said. “We played the same as we did against McAllen, but we weren’t able to close them out tonight.”

Sharyland took a 3-0 lead after one inning. Tucker Oakley singled across one run, and Tijerina produced two RBIs with a single. The Rattlers added solo runs in the third and seventh innings. Alex Ramirez, who went 3-for-4, had both RBIs.

The Coyotes started their comeback by scoring twice in the second and adding two runs in the fifth. Cruz Garcia singled in one run, and Acevedo had the other RBI.

Sharyland transfer Roy Garcia drilled a 1-2 pitch into left field to score one run in the fifth, and another run scored on a balk.

Garcia hit a two-run home run in the seventh, and Pena and Acevedo also produced RBIs.