THIS STORY CONTAINS INFO ABOUT: Harlandale, McCollum, South San, Memorial, Jefferson and Edison (in order)

FOR A FULL STORY ON HARLANDALE VS. McCOLLUM baseball (April 4, 2013 @ Frank Tejeda Complex), click on this link:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/Harlandale-boys-beat-McCollum-4418515.php

FOR INFO ABOUT: South San and Burbank, click on this link:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/High-School-SPORTS-ROUNDUP-4418528.php

Harlandale

The Indians only managed three hits against Medina Valley pitcher Jonathan Groff, but two of them came in on Jonathan Rodriguez’s fifth-inning single to pull Harlandale within 10 runs.

“We were lucky to get two runs,” Harlandale coach Eric Forestier said. “I’m glad we were able to score there at the end. There was a lot of difference from last night. I tell them to play the same way every day. We did great last night, but we needed to come out the same way tonight.”

Groff (7-1) walked three, hit a batsman and struck out seven in the win.

“Groff is always in command of his pitches,” Forestier said. “He’s very consistent. He gets strikes and gets ahead in the count. That’s the way he pitches. He’s a great pitcher and player – he hurt us with his bat, too.”

Medina Valley (19-2, 8-0), No. 4 in the Express-News area rankings, took a 1-0 lead in the second on Trevor Moretich’s sacrifice fly. The Panthers batted around in the third, scoring nine runs on eight hits to limit Harlandale’s comeback hopes. Groff supplied the big hits in the inning, a three-run home run and a two-run single.

For Harlandale, Kinkaid Gonzales was struck by a pitch leading off the fifth. With one out, the Panthers tried for a force play but didn’t get either runner, setting the stage for Rodriguez’s hit.

Michael Agis tried to extend the game with a base hit, but Groff started a game-ending double play on the next at-bat, leaving Harlandale susceptible to the 10-run rule.

McCollum

Senior Jonathan Arevalo pitched the Cowboys to victory in Floresville, allowing just one run while throwing a complete game.

“Jonathan threw a great ballgame,” Garza said. “He made some great pitches and we played great defense behind him. We only made one error. It was a total defensive effort on our part.”

Dominik Ortiz produced the winning hit. The junior slammed a two-run single in the sixth that wiped out a 1-0 Tigers lead and accounted for all of McCollum’s scoring.

“We struggled offensively,” Garza said, “but we got that clutch hit.”

The Cowboys are about to embark on a tough three-game stretch. They were scheduled to face red-hot Memorial Tuesday at home and make the long road trip to Uvalde Friday. After that, McCollum returns home to face Medina Valley next Tuesday at Tejeda.

“Memorial is riding high right now and then we have that big trip to Uvalde,” Garza said. “You’ve got to show up every game in our district. It’ll be nice to get back home. We’ve had a good following all year. We’ve had the whole community behind us.”

South San

The Bobcats defeated East Central (11-8, 1-4) 10-1 last Friday on the Hornets’ field. The visitors manufactured 11 hits while South San senior pitcher Joseph Valle scattered seven East Central hits, including a home run from Ryan Ramos.

Valle gave up the home run in the second inning and East Central led 1-0. The Bobcats tied it 1-1 in the third and they produced seven runs in the next two frames.

South San’s Adam Rodriguez and Gallegos each amassed three hits and two RBIs. Rodriguez hit two doubles and Gallegos one. Nick Herrera also doubled. Valle (2-for-4) and Bosmans drove in runs.

Memorial

Not content with a victory over their archrival, the Minutemen (2-16, 2-6) pulled off their first two wins of the season last week. Even more impressively, Memorial pulled out a pair of one-run wins over Kennedy (7-12, 2-6) and Southside (7-14, 3-5) at Edgewood Field.

The Minutemen prevailed 2-1 over Kennedy last Thursday at the field they share.

Memorial junior Ivan DeAnda won the pitcher’s duel over Rockets junior Isaiah Garcia. DeAnda limited Kennedy to two hits. Garcia held the Minutemen to three hits.

The Minutemen made single runs in the second and third innings hold up as Kennedy scored in the sixth.

Last Friday, Memorial edged the Southside 4-3. The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead in the first four innings and added another run in the top of the sixth. The Minutemen assembled a three-run rally to tie it in the bottom of the sixth. The winning run was scored in the seventh.

Jonathan Garza scattered five hits to earn the win for Memorial. Southside’s Luis Salazar took the loss despite limiting Memorial to four hits.

The Cardinals finished the week in fifth place. Memorial and Kennedy shared sixth.

Jefferson

Little more than a week after upsetting third-place Edison (11-10, 5-3), the Mustangs (6-12, 3-5) defeated Lanier 9-4 last Friday at SAISD Field No. 1 to tie the Voks (7-12, 3-5) for fourth place in District 28-4A.

Mustangs senior Nate DeHoyos (3-for-5) had a monsterous game against Lanier. DeHoyos drove in six runs while bashing two doubles and a triples. Cesar Garza was 4-for-5 with two stolen bases. Michael Garcia (2-for-4) and Greg Gonzales (2-for-5) also were key hitters for Jefferson.

Jefferson also received a strong pitching performance from Nicholas Flores, who limited the Voks to two hits and two earned runs. Flores struck out three.

The Mustangs scored two runs in each of the first two innings to build a 4-2 lead. Lanier pulled within 4-3 in the third. Jefferson responded with a three-run rally in the fourth.

Edison

The Golden Bears held off Highlands (4-15, 2-6) for a 9-7 win last Friday at SAISD Field No. 1.

Edison senior Seth Henry hit a home run. Classmate Zach Garcia was the winning pitcher.

Juan Diaz led the Owls with a 3-for-3 plate performance. All three hits were doubles. Steven Martinez (2-for-4, 2 RBIs) and Richard Gonzalez (2-for-5, RBI) also shone for Highlands.