Baseball Game Preview: Economedes Jaguars vs. Harlingen Cardinals

A feisty cat fight will be fought as the Jaguars take on the Cardinals at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Harlingen took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Economedes, who comes in off a win.

Economedes made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Porter, but they still couldn't quite topple them. Economedes' pitchers stepped up to hand Porter a 10-0 shutout on Friday. The Jaguars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three contests by seven runs or more this season.

Rene Rios and Gilbert Rodriguez were a major factor no matter where they played. Throwing, Rios didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only a hit while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Meanwhile, Rodriguez tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Furthermore, Rios didn't allow a single walk, the first time he has blanked an opponent since back in April of 2024. At bat, Rios scored a run and stole two bases while going 3-for-4, while Rodriguez scored a run while going 2-for-4. That's the most stolen bases Rios has posted since back in March of 2024.

Josiah Villareal

Runs

02/18/25 vs San Benito	3
02/28/25 vs Porter	2
02/28/25 vs Port Isabel	2

In other batting news, Josiah Villareal was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. He has become a key player for Economedes: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 0-5 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Jose Perez, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.

Economedes was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .385. They are 2-1 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.

Meanwhile, Harlingen came up short against Stevens on Friday and fell 6-2.

The victory made it two in a row for Economedes and bumps their season record up to 3-5. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing 10.5 hits in those games compared to only 4.67 in the others. As for Harlingen, they dropped their record down to 2-4 with the defeat, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season.

Economedes was able to grind out a solid win over Harlingen in their previous matchup back in March of 2024, winning 4-1. Does Economedes have another victory up their sleeve, or will Harlingen turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.