Sports Column by Rey Sifuentes Jr.

(The following column is the sole opinion of the writer.)

     Okay. So here are two separate situations that (in my opinion) should have the same result.

     Exhibit A, almost two weeks ago – Eagle Pass and San Benito High School’s softball teams meet for game one of their best of three region playoff series in Laredo.

     Heavy weather – which no one can control – halts the game in the sixth inning with San Benito ahead 2-0.

     The chief umpire later declares the score final – giving San Benito a 1-0 series lead – and instructs everyone to come back the following day.

     Arriving for game two on Saturday, both teams find out that their best of three series is now only a one-game winner advances playoff, and that both teams need to finish out the remaining one and a third inning.

     San Benito holds on for the win and moves on in the postseason.

     EPISD players, coaches, family and administrators protest the surprise change in the playoff format (rightfully so in my opinion) and attorneys for the district later file an injunction against the University Interscholastic League.

     The injunction gets dismissed by a court in Travis County (Austin) on Friday.

     Long story short: Bye Bye Lady Eagles.

     Stay with me here.

     Exhibit B, last Friday – Eagle Pass and Mission Sharyland’s baseball teams meet for a region playoff in San Antonio.

     This is in a one game winner take all contest.

     Both teams slug it out, needing to play eight innings, and the Eagles edge the Rattlers (ranked number two in the state, third in some national polls) 10-9.      

     Sharyland, a few days ago, filed an incident report with UIL over how EPHS’s coaching staff selected the umpires for the game – according to a recent story in RGV Sports.com.

     The Rattlers’ coaches (who lost the flips that decided the playoff format and its location) are arguing that they had an agreement with EPHS’s staff that they would first go through UIL, which would then pick four umpires from the San Antonio chapter.

     EPHS’s staff, allegedly, instead went straight to the San Antonio chapter and hand-picked the game’s umpires.

     Sharyland brass also claims that it has requested documentation from EPISD officials, but that those transactions have not taken place.

     Regardless, now that the game has been ruled final, the ink has gone dry in the books, and the postseason must go on.

     Long story short: Bye Bye Sharyland Rattlers.

     Does Sharyland have a right to be upset?

     Yes, of course, their season is over and a team that on paper had a legitimate shot at winning a state title will instead be watching the rest of the playoffs.

     Should Eagle Pass apologize? For what?

     Until EPISD’s coaches have been proven to have done something wrong, everyone needs to accept the final results from last week’s game, and the Eagles need to stay focused on San Antonio LBJ (whom they host in game one of their region semifinal series at 7:30 p.m. on Friday).

     Because if EPHS - for whatever reason – is forced to replay its game against Sharyland, then the Lady Eagles’ season should also be revived.

     (Rey Sifuentes Jr. is the sports editor of the Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune which is located in East Texas. He is also a 1992 graduate of Eagle Pass High School. Sifuentes can be reached on Facebook and at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . You can also follow him through Twitter at @eaglesmavericks.)