The last few games of non-district and tournament play are slated for this weekend as Big 7 baseball programs gear up for the grind of district action. With 30-6A and 31-5A featuring some of the top teams South Texas has to offer, they will be looking to have a good showing this weekend for the start of district on Tuesday.

The Sharyland Rattlers and the Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks played solid ball in the first two days of the tournament, but a forfeiture on day three prevented the public from seeing two of the Valley’s best in the championship game.

The Sharyland Rattlers went 3-1 in at home in pool play, advancing to the semifinals of their host tournament by beating Edinburg High (10-0), McAllen Memorial (9-1) and Brownsville Rivera (5-4), but falling to Brownsville Veterans (0-3).

As for the Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks, they went a perfect 4-0 in pool play, bringing their home record to 9-0 early this season. The Diamondbacks dismantled the competition on day one, rolling through Valley View (13-2) and Port Isabel (16-1). On the second day of the tourney, the Diamondbacks got by Edinburg North (9-4) and San Antonio Alamo Heights (8-6) to punch their semifinals ticket.

With four teams advancing to the semifinals set for Saturday morning, only three teams would show. Sharyland played San Antonio Alamo Heights as scheduled at 10 a.m., but Brownsville Veterans no-showed to prevent Sharyland Pioneer from their semifinal game. The Sharyland Rattlers went on to win against S.A. Alamo Heights 8-1, but with one championship team having played already that morning, while Sharyland Pioneer didn’t because of their opponent forfeiting, the Rattlers and Diamondbacks decided to cancel the tourney final and split the Sharyland ISD Hardball Classic as co-champions.

Sharyland High’s Martin Vazquez and Sharyland Pioneer’s Evan Maldonado split the MVP award as both had stellar outings to lead their team all weekend. Vazquez went 13-for-16 at the plate, hitting two home runs, and driving in eight runners for the Rattlers. Maldonado was nearly perfect at the plate as the junior went 13-for-14, blasting one home run and bringing in 12 RBIs for the Diamondbacks.

Ray Hernandez, Jacob Rosales and Johnny Lugo were named to the All-Tourney team for the Diamondbacks, while Lalo Salinas, Chase Gerlach and Ivan Alvarez represented the Rattlers on the All-Tourney team.

Both the Rattlers and Diamondbacks now move on to the Edinburg All-American Classic where they’... Click here to read full article

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