Pioneer Diamondbacks fight their way into regional semis

2 weeks ago 87

Bryan Ramos

MISSION — Through two rounds of the Texas high school baseball state playoffs, the Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks have found themselves in two completely opposite types of series. But in the postseason, all that matters is finding ways to win.

In Round 1, it was a low-scoring three-game dogfight against Harlingen South. The Diamondbacks scored just four runs in the three games, but still emerged victorious.

In Round 2, it was a high-scoring shootout of a series against Corpus Christi Ray as the Diamondbacks scored 29 runs in three games to win the series 2-1.

Now, the Diamondbacks are ready to make their second regional semifinal playoff appearance in four years.

“At the end of the day, if you play good defense, you throw strikes and offensively you have timely hitting, you’re going to find yourselves ahead at the end of a lot of ball games,” Pioneer head coach Adrian Leal said. “That’s what these guys have done, and that’s something I’m really proud of them for.”

Game 1 between Sharyland Pioneer (20-12) and Liberty Hill (26-9-1) is set for 6 p.m. Friday at Somerset High School in Somerset. Game 2 is scheduled for a 1 p.m. Saturday start in Somerset. Game 3, if necessary, will follow 30 minutes after Game 2.

The last time the Diamondbacks were in the regional semifinals was in 2022, when this year’s senior class were freshmen.

Shortstop Diego Dominguez and pitcher Ruben Lopez were varsity members on that Pioneer team that ended up falling against Georgetown, who went on to win the Class 5A state title.

Since then, the two have embraced playing in big games.

“Those moments have helped me ever since,” Lopez said. “I’m hyped to be out here still practicing with my guys and to have another opportunity this week.”

Lopez leads Pioneer with a 6-1 record, a 1.52 ERA, and has 57 strikeouts in 50 innings pitched.

Dominguez has held things down at shortstop and leads Pioneer in runs scored this season.

“My freshmen year, we had a lot of role models, man. They helped us believe in each other, gave us experience, and not a lot of people were given that opportunity,” Dominguez said. “Throughout the year, we stuck together and believed in each other and it showed in the playoffs. In the playoffs, anything can happen. It doesn’t matter talent-wise, it’s about who can play as a team.”

Pioneer has had several players step up through their first two rounds.

In Round 1, junior Leland Villarreal gave the Diamondbacks a fighting chance in Game 3 against South as he pitched 7.1 shutout innings. Pioneer went on to win it with a walk-off in the bottom of the 8th.

Last week, in Game 3 against Corpus Christi Ray, senior outfielder Ben Martinez had three hits to help spark Pioneer offensively.

“I’ve seen a lot of fight, a lot of grit, and a lot of faith in each other,” Martinez said. “Having faith in each other, handing each other the torch and passing it down, it’s been working for us.”

Standing in the opposite dugout from the Diamondbacks this weekend will be District 25-5A co-champion Liberty Hill. The Panthers enter the regional semifinal round as the No. 14-ranked team in Class 5A, according to the latest Diamond Pro/THSB Top 25.

Liberty Hill opened the postseason with a sweep against San Antonio Pieper before going three games against Eagle Pass Winn last weekend.

The Diamondbacks, who have gone to three games twice already, are prepared for the challenge.

“I told these guys at the beginning of the week that once you get down to the final 16 teams, you can throw away the talent factor of each team. Now you just gotta play,” Leal said. “ Every team that has made it up until this point, they’ve had a magical season of their own. I want our kids to play free, I want them to play loose, but I want them to play with intense focus. There’s big emotion and then there’s intense focus, and during the playoffs, sometimes you can get lost in the big emotion and get away from the intense focus, so we just want to come back down to playing our game with a lot of focus, thinking ahead of what are the possibilities of what could happen in given situations.”

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