Mavericks oust Panthers, face Longhorns at region quarters

by Rey Sifuentes Jr.
C.C. Winn High School’s varsity baseball team won their second consecutive playoff (in team history) by eliminating Weslaco during their best-of-three area round series held in Laredo this past Friday and Saturday. The Mavericks won Game One 7-0 on Friday. C.C. Winn then lost Game Two (10-4) on Saturday before taking the series by seizing Game Three (9-0).
During Game One, the Mavericks scored four runs in the fourth inning and three in the fifth. Jose Rendon (winning pitcher) struck out six batters while allowing five hits.
Luis Saucedo went two for three. Jose Padilla went one for three and brought in two runs. Porfirio Ruiz and Xavier Lopez each hit one for three and batted in a run. Juan del Bosque, Steve Perez, Chris Cabrera and Jose Villarreal went one for three.
“Rendon pitched a great game for us and our defense played impressively,” Head Coach Kevin Laughlin said.
“Our bats came alive in the fourth and fifth innings and that was all we needed as Rendon held Weslaco down the rest of the way.”
Errant decisions in throw- ing the ball hindered C.C. Winn in Game Two. At the same time, Weslaco’s batters started making contact at the plate. With thirty minutes in between games two and three, the Maverick senior players pulled their team- mates together and refocused their moxie.
“The seniors took everyone to the bullpen where they talked for a good 20 minutes by themselves,” Laughlin said. “When they
came back, they were pumped and ready to go headed into game three and just loud, completely different from what they were in the second game. They kept communicating on the field during game three, picking each other up.”
Laughlin did not have to search very hard for whom to place on the mound.
“Rendon came ...