Full Circle: PSJA High alum and current HC Guajardo leads Bears to first regional final appearance
SAN JUAN — PSJA High baseball head coach Marco Guajardo bleeds maroon and white. The longtime head coach spent his high school days suiting up for the Bears before going on to play collegiate ball at what was then UTPA.
He’s spent the past 15 years leading PSJA High’s baseball program as its head coach, amassing over 300 career wins during that span.
Now he’s led them to their first ever regional final appearance, with the Bears defeating Austin Westlake 11-5 on Saturday to complete the sweep of the Chaparrals during a Region IV-6A DII semifinal series.
“It is just awesome,” Guajardo said. “I bleed maroon at heart. I played here my whole life. I grew up here in PSJA. Now being able to take these guys this far, it’s just unbelievable.”
After stealing Game 1 on the road on Thursday, PSJA High entered Saturday confident they could close out the series at home, with Games 2 and 3 scheduled to be played at C.V. Cain Field in San Juan.
Even after two runs by the Chaparrals during the top of the first, the Bears' confidence didn’t fade, tying the game on a pair of forced runs by Westlake’s pitcher during the bottom of the first.
“It was crazy to beat Westlake over there,” PSJA High senior pitcher Jacob Delgadillo said. “We knew we could do it, but to actually do it was surreal. We knew that if we brought them back here they weren’t going to beat us."
The Bears fed off those two runs and added seven more during the bottom of the third, taking a commanding 9-2 lead through three innings.
A pair of runs by Westlake during the top of the fourth cut into PSJA High’s lead, but the Bears answered once again, with James Cansino bringing in a pair of runs with a deep shot to center field to put his team up 11-4.
Westlake continued to battle, adding another run during the bottom of the seventh, but they wouldn’t come any closer, with the Bears holding on the secure their first regional final berth in program history.
“It's just crazy,” Delgadillo said. “It has never been done before. At least not in our school. It feels legendary. It feels great to be the first one to do it.”
The victory improves the Bears to 6-0 in the playoffs this year, including a Game 1 victory on the road at Westlake.
They’ll take on the Dripping Springs Tigers in the Region IV-6A DII finals at a date, time and location to be determined.
"We just want to keep it rolling now and see how far we can go," Delgadillo said. "I believe we can reach that state tournament and win a state championship, but we’ll leave that up to God. That isn’t up to us.”
