The San Benito Greyhounds baseball team went 3-0 over the weekend to win the Mercedes Knights of Columbus baseball tournament. The boys are shown here with the first place trophy. (Courtesy photo)
Special to the NEWS
MERCEDES – “Two tournaments, two trophies. Not bad.”
As skipper Ram Partida noted, there was nothing “bad” about the Greyhound baseball team’s weekend at the annual Knights of Columbus tournament in Mercedes.
In fact, it was all good.
San Benito cruised through the field, mowing down Marine Military Academy (16-0), Harlingen South (5-0) and Falfurrias (10-0) in the championship game to win the tourney and bring back home more hardware. The ’Hounds now sit at 6-3 overall heading into district play this week.
“Our goal was to come home with another trophy,” Partida said of his club, which won fourth place at the McAllen-Mission ISD tournament the prior week. “Going into Saturday, I told the guys we’d accomplished that goal. They said, ‘No coach, we want to win it all.’ So I told them to go do it and they did.”
The combined 31-0 score over the three games spoke volumes of just how well the ’Hounds pitched and played defense. Though they made some scattered miscues, Partida said the team was able to shake them off every time.
After San Benito made quick work of the Leathernecks, a rematch against South, which defeated the ’Hounds on opening night, loomed. This time, it was the Hawks with the shaky gloves and the ’Hounds took full advantage.
“That was the difference between this game and the first one was they (Hawks) made the errors,” Partida said. “And this time we were the ones who took advantage. We took it and ran with it.”
Beating the Hawks was a huge morale booster and San Benito carried that momentum over to the championship game where they blanked the traditionally-baseball savvy Jerseys.
“When we won that first one (MMA) we had confidence but beating South really boosted our confidence,” Partida said. “The kids are excited and they’re in high spirits right now.”
For their efforts, four Greyhounds were named to the KC tourney’s All-Tournament team as they each had tremendous weekends.
Leadoff hitter Victor Gaytan went 7-for-9 and scored seven runs in three games. Catcher Adan Guzman went 6-for-8 with five runs and three RBIs. Freshman phenom J.R. Gaytan was tremendous, going 5-for-10 with seven runs and four RBIs at the plate while shining on the mound by scattering two hits and seven strikeouts in the clincher against Fal. The final all-tourney pick was Roy Aguilar, who was solid in relief. He did not allow a hit and struck out three in three innings of work.
Partida also had plenty of praise for pitcher Tommy Padilla (3 IP, four hits, three Ks vs. South), Josh Huerta (6-for-9, six runs) and Aaron Figueroa (3-for-7, 4 walks, 2 RBIs) who was solid on defense. He had two sensational grabs at second base against the Hawks.
“Going back to discipline, we keep talking about three things – discipline, character and heart,” Partida said. “And these guys are understanding that. Hopefully it continues.”
With the non-district tournaments out of the way, it’s all about 31-5A district play now. The ’Hounds got back to work on Tuesday night as they hosted PSJA Memorial looking to improve to 2-0 in league play.
“These trophies are nice, but the one we want has a golden glove on it,” Partida said referring to the district title. “Our goal is the district championship or at least the second round of the playoffs. If we keep playing hard, we’re gonna be fine.”
Read this story in the March 6 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.
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