(Jourdanton, Texas)-Only sixteen teams remain in Class 5A baseball in Texas. The 30-5A Co-Champions, La Joya Palmview Lobos (29-8) are one of those teams left. The fans call this round “Sweet 16”. The Lobos will travel to Jourdanton, Texas, just south of San Antonio on Thursday to meet 25-5A fourth place team, Leander Rouse (20-10-1) in Game One of the Best-of-Three series at 6:00 p.m. Games Two and Three will move to Beeville, Texas on Friday at 4:00 p.m. followed by Game-Three thirty minutes later, if necessary.
The Rouse Raiders found themselves in the brink of elimination in district play after going 1-7 from April 11 through May 3rd. The Raiders (7-5) snuck into fourth place with two wins over district champions, Cedar Park, eliminating Lehman (6-7) from the postseason playoffs. Since then, the Raiders have posted playoff wins over New Braunfels Canyon, Alamo Heights, and again, over Cedar Park.
The Lobos road to the State 5A Baseball Playoffs has come with wins over Corpus Christi King, Sharyland Pioneer, and Edinburg Vela with La Joya Palmview making its first-ever fourth round appearance. Can the Lobos make history again?
The playoffs are about pitching and defense. Palmview HS head coach, Rick Garcia will decide who will take the mound on Thursday for Game One. He could go with a sophomore or his senior. If he starts the sophomore, then all eyes will be on Palmview HS sophomore Mateo Garcia, a 5’10” and his nine wins this season. To date, he has struck out 65 batters and has allowed an impressive 1.63 ERA. He also has 41 hits for a 423 batting average. Garcia could opt to go with this big dog, 6’2″ senior Christian Perez instead. The right handed pitcher has posted an impressive 6-3 record in 2023 and as a junior, he went 7-0. He currently has a career total of 110 strikeouts in 95 innings pitch in two seasons. The winner plays CC Ray or Boerne Champion in what fans call, the Elite Eight. HSSM picks the Lobos in a sweep! (HSSMIMages/LJISD Athletics)
UIL Class 5A Playoff Teams-Regional Semifinals
Region One
Abilene Cooper (15-11) vs Grapevine (32-5-2)
Wylie (24-11-2) vs Argyle (30-9-2)
Region Two
Reedy (24-13) vs Longview (11-11)
Frisco Wakeland (20-12-2) vs Whitehouse (31-7)
Region Three
La Porte (27-8-1) vs Lake Creek (25-9)
Barbers Hill (24-10-1) vs Magnolia West (31-4)
Region Four
Boerne Champion (30-9-1) vs CC Ray (34-7)
Leander Rouse (20-10-1) vs La Joya Palmview (29-8)