RGV Capsules: Casarez and Suarez ready for fight night

EDINBURG — WBO Youth Middleweight Champion Raul “El Tigre” Casarez was all smiles Friday as he walked around with his signature tiger striped hair and took photographs with his fans. But when it came time to weigh-in for his 160-pound bout against Eloy Suarez in tonight’s main event of a Marines Promotions Rumble in the Park fight card at the Edinburg Municipal Park, he was all business.

Casarez and Suarez put their game faces on as each of them went to the scale. The champion Casarez weighed in at 159 1/2 pounds, and Suarez was at the limit of 160 pounds. As fans and photographers started snapping pictures the fighters met face-to-face and even tried to make one another flinch with no success.

“We haven’t done anything different as far as camp is concerned,” Casarez said. “We had two more sparring sessions and we’ve been trying to get our weight down and we did.”

Casarez and his corner have their game plan ready for today. Unfortunately for fans he’s not saying what’s on his mind.

As far as Suarez is concerned he’s ready for the fight and has been waiting for an opportunity like this for quite some time. At one point Suarez sparred with Casarez so he and his trainer Emilio Ledezma feel confident that they can pull off the victory in El Tigre’s backyard.

“We’re ready and we’ve been doing a lot of training,” Suarez said in Spanish. “I know how he fights and I’m ready.”

One fighter who knows about both fighters is Felix Piedra of Mercedes. Piedra, who will be fighting Edwynn Jones of Houston on the undercard, has worked with both Casarez and Suarez at one point in his career. He thinks Casarez has something to prove to Suarez and will do so when the bell rings.

“He has everything to prove,” Peidra said of Casarez. “He wants to make sure Eloy (Suarez) knows that he is a different fighter when they sparred, that he’s ‘the man’ around here and that he’s the champion.”

Piedra predicts Casarez will win the fight.

Other bouts on the card include Jerry Guevara vs. Victor Hernandez, Oscar Tovar vs. Arturo Herrera, “Kilo” Mario Amador vs. Victor Sanchez and Gerardo Alvarado vs. Miguel Pizarro.

College

UTPA offense stays hot in 14-7 win

EDINBURG – The University of Texas-Pan American baseball team’s shaky defense and wobbly pitching could have soured a night in which members of the Broncs’ 1971 College World Series team were on hand Friday at Edinburg Baseball Stadium.

Luckily, the Broncs have become a hitting team. Continuing their recent offensive surge, the Broncs beat the NJIT Highlanders 14-7.

The Broncs (15-10, 5-0 Great West Conference) amassed 17 hits and scored in all but two innings. Catcher Mike McCarthy led the way with a 3-for-3, four-RBI performance.

“At the beginning of the year, our pitching was our strong point,” McCarthy said. “Now, our hitting is. Once (the pitching) gets back on track, we are going to be a pretty good team.”

Eventually the pitching struggles might catch up with the Broncs, but for now the offense seems comfortable carrying the team.

UTPA led 2-0 after a two-run McCarthy double in the first inning. The Broncs tacked on another run in the second on Adrian De La Rosa single. In the third inning, Vinny Mejia (2 for 5, two RBIs), McCarthy, Stuart MacInnes (1 for 4) and Colton Van Komen (1 for 2) each picked up RBIs to contribute to a 7-2 lead.

Roger Bernal was 2 for 4 with three runs and Angle Ibanez was 3 for 5 with an RBI and three runs. Yeah, the Broncs lineup Friday packed a punch.

“Once we got it rolling, one through nine, we have no holes in the lineup right now,” Ibanez said.

The Broncs needed to rely on their offense Friday. The defense committed five errors and starter Michael Zouzalik was pulled after 4 2/3 innings after allowing 6 runs, 4 earned, off eight hits.

NJIT scored its second run in the third inning because of two errors. A second MacInnes error in the fifth helped paved the way for NJIT to score four runs and to get to within 7-6. That was as close as NJIT would get.

“I think today, we played as poorly as we have all year,” Broncs coach Manny Mantrana said. “Fortunately, our offense came through. Sometimes when you play poorly, you get lucky. In this game, when you play bad, you usually lose. We have to clean those things up.”

But for right now, the offense is leading the way.

“I knew we were going to hit,” Mantrana said.

EXTRA BASES: The 40th anniversary of the 1971 team’s run to the CWS will be honored between today’s doubleheader. It was supposed to be Friday but it was pushed back until today to allow more members of the team to participate. … Game 1 of the doubleheader starts at 1 p.m.

Peter Rasmussen covers UTPA athletics for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448 or via e-mail at prasmussen@themonitor.com.

Arena Football

Magic look to get back on track

PHARR — The 4-0 Houston Stallions are probably the last opponent a team on a two-game losing streak wants to see. In their three games, the Stallions have scored 52, 75 then 89 points last week against Abilene.

But that’s who the Rio Grande Valley Magic (1-3) will have to stop tonight at State Farm Arena. Two of the Stallions’ three wins — they were credited with another after Lafayette dropped out of the league — have come against the Magic, who have struggled to stop them in each matchup.

“They are (a good team). From an offensive standpoint I feel we’re right there with them,” Magic coach Schuyler Anderson said. “From a defensive standpoint, I feel like we’ve added to our defense to help counter what they’re going to bring to the table. We know they have a bunch of talent on the offensive side of the ball.”

Since their last game, a 70-53 loss to Corpus Christi, the Magic have brought in defensive back Melvin Stephenson and defensive lineman Daniel Giles to help shore up a banged-up defense. Anderson said much of that stems from the absence of defensive back Andre Burns, who will miss the rest of the season with a broken right arm.

The Magic have also been looking for a backup quarterback after Tiger Lyon left the team to return to school. Over the past week, they’ve worked out former McAllen High and Texas A&M-Kingsville signal caller Joe Menchaca along with onetime McAllen Rowe and Edinburg Landsharks QB Renato Nunez, though neither has signed yet.

Anderson said “it’s kind of tough” to have to find a QB to back up starter Billy Garza at this point of the season.

“While you’re trying to focus on the next opponent you’re also trying to work in a backup quarterback at the same time,” Anderson said. “It slows you down throughout the week but we’ve managed to get our work in and also give those guys an opportunity to get a look as well.”

Regardless, Anderson said the Magic need a win “real bad.”

“One of the things I stated to the guys is protect home. Right now we’re 1-0 at home, I don’t consider the last game we played Houston a home game because we weren’t the home team,” Anderson said. “Our main thing is to protect home.

“When you protect home that kind of builds momentum throughout the season, especially coming off a two-game losing streak you kind of need to build momentum especially going onto the road.”

Brian Sandalow covers the Rio Grande Valley Magic for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436 or via e-mail at bsandalow@themonitor.com.

Basketball

Vipers to open semifinals against Reno on Sunday in Hidalgo

HIDALGO – The defending NBA Development League champion and third-seeded Rio Grande Valley Vipers will play host to the Western Conference champion and second-seeded Reno Bighorns in Game 1 of the best-of-three semifinals at 5 p.m. Sunday at State Farm Arena.

The game will be televised on Versus on tape-delay starting at 10 p.m. or immediately after the conclusion of the NHL playoffs telecast. Games 2 and 3 (if necessary) will take place at 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at the Reno Events Center.

The Vipers were 1-1 against the Bighorns during the regular season, with both games coming in Reno. The Vipers fell 119-111 on Dec. 10 and won 126-122 on Dec. 11.

Jerel McNeal, who has led the Vipers in scoring in all three games of the playoffs thus far, scored a career-high and Vipers season-high 40 points in the second game. The Vipers are 4-4 all-time against the Bighorns and 2-1 in post-season play, as the Vipers beat the Bighorns in last year’s quarterfinals. The Vipers won the road game and split the home games.

The Vipers are 3-1 in televised games this season, including a 2-1 mark when the game is on Versus, and 0-1 in the postseason. The Vipers beat the Texas Legends at State Farm Arena on Nov. 18 and the Erie BayHawks during the NBA Development League Showcase at the South Padre Island Convention Centre on Jan. 12 on Versus.

The Vipers fell to the Bakersfield Jam at the Jam Events Center in Game 1 of the quarterfinals on April 8 on Versus. The Vipers are 1-1 this season when being televised on the road, picking up a win against the Austin Toros on Fox Sports Southwest on Feb. 10.

The Vipers are 8-2 all-time when playing on Versus, including a 3-1 mark during last year’s playoffs. The Vipers are 2-1 when playing on Versus on the road, with victories over the Toros and the Tulsa 66ers during the semifinals and finals of last year’s playoffs, respectively.

The Vipers are 1-1 against the Bighorns on Versus and 0-1 during the postseason, with both games coming last year at State Farm Arena.

-- Vipers Services

Two Vipers earn all-rookie honors

McALLEN – The defending NBA Development League champion Rio Grande Valley Vipers announced Friday that Patrick Sullivan (6-9, 215, S.E. Louisiana) is a member of the NBA Development League all-rookie first team and Mouhammad Faye (6-10, 210, SMU) is a member of the NBA Development League all-rookie second team as voted on by the league head coaches.

“We’re real happy for those guys. I think it’s well deserved,” Vipers coach Chris Finch said. "They both had really strong rookie years. That’s what this league is all about – young players growing and making an impact. Like any individual award, we always think it’s reflective of the team and the team’s effort and I’m sure they feel the same way."

Sullivan averaged 9.4 points and 5.0 rebounds in 50 games (19 starts). He is one of only three Vipers to appear in every regular season game. He scored a career-high 23 points while blocking a career-best five shots on Dec. 17 against the Bakersfield Jam. He recorded four double-doubles.

Faye averaged 10.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in 47 games (41 starts). He has scored a career-high 20 points three times and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds twice while recording three double-doubles.

-- Vipers Services

Baseball

WhiteWings add 16 home games

HARLINGEN – The North American League’s Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings announced Friday that changes to the game schedule include the addition of 16 home games, giving the WhiteWings a total of 64 regular-season games at Harlingen Field.

“Our commitment is and always will be to affordable family entertainment. We are excited to be able to offer so many more games on premium dates, such as Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day, without raising prices. It is a way of giving back to those who have been so supportive of us over the years,” WhiteWings General Manager Cory Dirksen said.

The WhiteWings play host to the new McAllen Thunder in their home opening series from May 29 through June 1. Memorial Day is on May 30, and the WhiteWings will play host to the San Angelo Colts on the Fourth of July.

Home games will begin at 7:05 p.m., with the exception of eight doubleheaders and one exhibition game. The WhiteWings play host to the Edinburg Roadrunners in a preseason contest at 11:05 a.m. on May 20. Additionally, the WhiteWings play single admission doubleheaders beginning at 6:05 p.m. on June 9, July 5, July 14, July 19, July 26, Aug. 13 and Sept. 1. The WhiteWings will play host to a day-night doubleheader July 23, with Game 1 beginning at 10:35 a.m. and Game 2 beginning at 6:05 p.m.

The WhiteWings open the season with a four-game series against the Edinburg Roadrunners at Edinburg Baseball Stadium May 25 through 28 with all games starting at 7 p.m. The WhiteWings close the regular season with a three-game series against the Yuma Scorpions and newly hired manager Jose Canseco from Sept. 3 through 5.

-- WhiteWings Services