San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Eagles move into second round
Jesse Valdillez drove in the game-winning RBI as the Brackenridge Eagles defeated the Medina Valley Panthers 4-3 in Game 3 of the Class 5A bidistrict playoffs Saturday afternoon at Diz Reeves Diamond at the SAISD Sports Complex.
Valdillez connected on a single that went past diving Medina Valley second baseman Javi Gonzalez into right field, bringing in Gavin Perez from second base with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Valdillez said he was nervous when he went up to bat with the game on the line, but he was able to come through by following the instructions given to him by Brackenridge coach Bobby Behnsch.
“Coach (Behnsch) always tells me to hit it at right field, trust the process, and I did,” Valdillez said. “I was down 1-2 (in the count), I knew it was going to be a high fastball and I just got my hands there and tried to hit a line drive.”
Brackenridge (22-6) was able to score all three of its runs in the seventh after two outs, overcoming a 3-1 Medina Valley lead. Hector Quiroga started the Eagles’ rally with a one out double. After two outs, Marco Zuniga extended the rally by getting on base as he was hit by pitch. Perez then doubled to the left field corner, driving in both Quiroga and courtesy runner Aiden Garcia, to tie the score at 3.
With the win, the Eagles won the best-of-three playoff series, 2-1, and will advance to play either Buda Johnson or Liberty Hill in the second round. Medina Valley won Game 1 Friday at Medina Valley, 8-5, with Brackenridge evening the series by taking Game 2, 8-1, which was played earlier Saturday at SAISD Sports Complex.
Medina Valley (15-10) went up 3-1 in the sixth inning of Game 3 on three consecutive RBI singles from Bobby Peterson, Thomas Pardo and Whitt Joyce.
In Game 2, the Eagles struck first with four runs in the first inning as they batted around the order and added four more runs in the sixth to seal the game.
Hector Quiroga allowed six hits and struck out seven in going the distance for Brackenridge in Game 2. At the plate in the second game, the Eagles were led by Josh Arzola (2-for-4) and Perez (2for-3), who had two RBIs apiece.
In Game 3, Medina Valley loaded the bases in the first two innings against starting Brackenridge pitcher Arturo Parra, but couldn’t capitalize as Parra got out of both those jams by getting a strike out to end the first and a fly ball to end the second.
The Panthers stranded nine runners through the first four innings in Game 3 before Parra was lifted in the sixth inning after Medina Valley tied the game. Perez and Rudy Nino finished the game for Brackenridge on the mound, with Nino earning the win with 11⁄3 innings of work.
Behnsch said the playoff series win over Medina Valley was the first postseason playoff win for Brackenridge since 1994.
“I can’t even script it like that,” Behnsch said. “To take over the program in October and to have them buy into the things that I wanted them to do, I couldn’t have imagined this ever. They took what I gave them and they ran with it, and they just never gave up.”