Bears historic run ends in regional finals

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Ivan Palacios | Staff Writer

CORPUS CHRISTI — PSJA High’s historic playoff run came to an end Saturday, with the Bears falling 4-2 against Dripping Springs during Game 3 of a best-of-three Region IV-6A DII championship series at Steve Chapman Field in Corpus Christi.

The loss gave the Tigers the 2-1 series victory over the Bears, with Dripping Springs advancing to the Class 6A DII state semifinals. They’ll take on the Kingwood Mustangs at a date, time and location to be determined.

“You know what, I am real proud of our kids,” PSJA High head coach Marco Guajardo said. “They were awesome. We just didn’t get the hits when we needed them. We had opportunities. We kept ourselves in the game. Nyles (Alvarez) pitched a heck of a game. That was key. We were within a run here and there, but we just didn’t get the hits when we needed them. Much respect to those guys. Region IV is going to be represented well. We knew what we were up against. They’re the No. 4 team in the state and we were right there with them. I can’t say much about these guys. They played with heart all year long. I told our guys they’re going to remember this for the rest of their lives.”

PSJA High drew first blood against the Tigers on Saturday, with Sebastian Plascencia hitting a line drive to left field to bring in Jai Arenas and make it 1-0 through two innings.

Dripping Springs wasted no time answering, however, with Gavin Hoel hitting a solo bomb to right field during the top of the third to tie the game 1-1.

A defensive battle ensued for two innings, with neither team able to get on the board again until the top of the fifth when Dripping Springs’ Tyler Sanders and Taylor Tracey each brought in a run to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead.

PSJA High began to roar to life during the bottom of the fifth, with Zeke Garcia bringing in a run on a sacrifice fly to bring the Bears within one run. The momentum seemed to die after a delay during the inning due to an umpire change, however, with PSJA High unable to get anything else going.

“I think it did take away from our momentum,” Guajardo said. “It kind of seemed like it was them (Dripping Springs), but it wasn’t. We can’t do nothing about it. The umpire was done and was getting a heat stroke back there. That’s what caused the whole delay, so I can’t really blame anyone. It did cause a break to our momentum though. We were getting life and that could have been a big inning, but there is nothing we can do about it.”

Dripping Springs managed to add an insurance run during the top of the seventh on an RBI by Traigh Perry, taking a 4-2 lead and putting PSJA High on the ropes heading into the bottom of the seventh.

The Bears were unable to rally, with Cooper Rummel striking out the order during the final inning to end PSJA High’s season in the Region IV-6A DII finals.

“At the end of the day, its amazing just to be here at the regional final,” Guajardo said. “It is something I know these kids and myself are going to remember forever. Being able to take them here and it being my alma mater, it feels amazing. Then to be able to say we were one win away from the final four, its a big accomplishment. Its a great feeling. Right now it is a tough loss for us and we’re feeling that. But just the fact that we got here, it was an amazing year.”

PSJA High finishes the season with a 31-4-1 overall record, including a 10-0 run during District 31-6A play and a 7-2 playoff record.

Their run to the Region IV-6A DII finals was the first regional final appearance for the Bears in program history.

“We got to get back to work,” Guajardo said. “We’re going to enjoy this as much as we can. I’m going to spend some time with the seniors, have a banquet with them and give them what they deserve. Then we got to get back to work with the younger guys and hope we can repeat this kind of run again next year.”

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