Roundup: La Joya, Lyford and Weslaco punch tickets to Round 3

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The La Joya High Coyotes, Lyford Bulldogs and Weslaco High Panthers all battled for Game 3 victories on Saturday to win their area round playoff series and earn their spot in next week’s regional quarterfinals.

La Joya and Weslaco will now meet in the Region IV-6A quarterfinals in an RGV vs. RGV matchup, while Lyford advances to Round 3 to square off against state-ranked Corpus Christi London. Here’s how they earned their way into the regional quarterfinals.

CLASS 6A

LA JOYA HIGH 15, SAN ANTONIO BRENNAN 5: At Laredo, the Coyotes used a seven-run fifth-inning to cruise past the Bears in six innings to win Game 3 of their area round playoff series Saturday at Veterans Field.

Rolando Solis and Alfonso Balboa both had three RBI apiece while Roel Garcia led the way with 3-for-3 hitting and two RBI. Lucas Zambrano also drove in two for La Joya.

Pitcher Nick Balderas received the win after allowing four earned runs off one hit and four walks with four strikeouts. Edwin Zuniga finished with 1 2/3 innings of relief to earn the save, giving up just one hit and one walk with one strikeout.

The Coyotes are now set to make the program’s third regional quarterfinal appearance in four seasons.

Next for La Joya (19-14-1) is Weslaco High (25-9-1) in Round 3. Game details are to be announced.

WESLACO HIGH 9, EAGLE PASS 8: At Weslaco, the Panthers won a Game 3 thriller in walk-off fashion Saturday at Weslaco High School to advance to the regional quarterfinal round of the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

Trailing 7-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Panthers plated six runs to cut the lead to 7-6. Weslaco turned five hits and two walks into six on the scoreboard off a bases loaded walk by Diego Castillo, a two-run single to center by Stone Gomez, a two-run double by Ryan Everitt and an RBI single by Gael Villareal.

Eagle Pass tacked on one more run in the top of the sixth, but Weslaco had one more big inning in them with three outs to play with.

The Panthers loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh on singles from Castillo and Gomez and a walk by Toby Perez. Ryan Everitt then drew a five-pitch walk to bring one run across for an 8-7 game, Gael Villareal hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Gomez to tie things at 8-8, and John Reyna sliced a tricky hopper to third that was mishandled to score Perez for the game-winner.

Weslaco (25-9-1) moves on to face La Joya (19-14-1) in Round 3. Game details are to be announced.

CLASS 3A

LYFORD 3, GOLIAD 2: At Hebbronville, all three of the Bulldogs’ second-round playoff games against the Tigers were decided by one run, but Lyford finished on top in the decisive Game 3 on Saturday at Hebbronville High School to win a nail-biter of a series.

The second round playoff win by Lyford is the program’s first in 30 years.

Starting pitcher Diego Medina delivered for the Bulldogs with a complete-game effort, allowing two earned runs off nine hits and one walk while striking out two.

Lyford held a 1-0 lead entering the top of the seventh and scored two on an RBI double by Isaias Gonzalez to score Aiden Olivas-Romo from second and an RBI groundout by Jacob Reyna to make it 3-0.

Goliad’s seventh-inning comeback fell short despite a bases-loaded two-run single with one out. A flyout to left field and a groundout to Medina ended the game, sending Lyford into next week’s regional quarterfinals.

The Bulldogs (21-9) will meet Corpus Christi London (24-3) in a best-of-three third round series. Game 1 is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi. Game 2 and 3, if necessary, will be played at 2 p.m. Saturday at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi.

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