PHARR KIDS HEAD TO CALIFORNIA

By G. Romero Wendorf

Saying The Advance News covers Hidalgo County, like we try to do, it was hard deciding to put two, count ‘em, two Pharr stories on the front page. But this one, this World Series story, was just too good to pass up. And with Pharr getting set to choose a new city manager, well, there goes the other front-page slot.

Next week, still a ton of stuff to write. Say a prayer my back gets better.

So before I get to the exciting Pharr P.A.L. Mustang All-Star baseball team and its trip to the World Series, let me re-cap what The Advance News still has in its writing hopper:

Note: Now that I’ve made public, again, that my back’s bothering me, somebody who doesn’t like me is already out there with some black-hearted curandera and a straw doll that resembles me, saying, stick another pin into it, only harder this time.

Not to bring up Pharr again, but it looks like the utility rates may indeed go down. The firstpublic reading’s already taken place. Two more to go.

The mayor has done a complete makeover of the Housing Authority.

• The legal charges still coming out of Donna ISD are making my head spin. I want to see if the attorney, Robert Salinas, will adopt me.
• Mercedes had a historical downtown city event.
• Still have to talk to former Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas about his new job with AT&T (hello, JD).
• I have a list now of the judges who are all making money from the courthouse weddings. At least for the past three years.
• Finally got back the open-records request from the sheriff’s office, seeking the percent of prisoners who are in this country illegally (out of 1,139 inmates, 277 have ICE detainers).
• Still waiting for the open records request from the IDEA Academy to see how much its CEO is making vs. the rest of the Valley’s superintendents.
• Have a story with the McAllen mayor as to why the Anzalduas Bridge still isn’t open to commercial traffic.
• Working on a story on Donna’s female mayor and why she’s up against it with the men on the commission.
• Finally found a doctor who will go on the record as to why he’s against DHR’s planned expansion (double its current bed size).
• And did an interview with the county judge about his plans for a new county courthouse. Says it won’t cost taxpayers a dime. (At least I think that’s what he said.)

Back to Pharr.

This year, the city’s Police Athletic League (P.A.L.) doubled the number of kids it had playing in its PONY (Protect Our Neighborhood Youth) Baseball League. There were approximately 998 kids this year vs. approximately 560 last summer. Seventy-three teams vs. 46.

For those who don’t know, PONY League lets boys and girls play baseball who are between the ages of 4 and 18. There are seven divisions in all, from Shetland to Palmetto.

This year, the Mustang Division, ages 9, had an all-star team that won big. And now it’s headed to the World Series this week in California. The 12-kid team (11 boys and one girl) takes off this Wednesday for LA. The games are played in Walnut, not too far away from the City of Angels.

Its first game is Thursday and starts at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.

To get to the World Series was no small feat.

First the All-Star team had to win the Sectional Tournament in Harlingen. Then they won the Super Regional Tournament in Laredo. Then this past weekend, they won the South Zone National Tournament in Lafayette, La. They did that by digging themselves out of the loser’s bracket (makes the win that much tougher).

No small feat, to win each tournament, the team had to win between seven and eight games.

One of the team’s big supporters is the city’s new mayor, “Amos” Hernandez.

“It shows that our kids can do anything anyone else can as long as we can always find the mone.”

As such, he’s been a big supporter of the program as have his fellow commissioners.

“This is one thing we’re all in agreement on,” he says. “These kids are exciting to watch, fun to watch, and it’s great we have the budget to back them.”

Hernandez says that the Pharr P.A.L. All-Star Mustangs’ games will be broadcast live at the city’s Boggus Events Center on north Cage. It’s free to get into the venue.

First game starts Thursday at 5 Pacific, 7 p.m. Central.

“Let’s all support this team,” says Hernandez.

P.A.L.’s executive director, Roel Garza, says what makes this team so special is that all 12 kids are from Pharr.

These days, when competition has grown even more intense, some teams have been known to bring in a ringer or two and put them on the team. Super hot player from the next town over.

Garza laughs.

“No, we don't have ringers,” he says. “Our kids are all from Pharr.”

Finally, for people who can’t make it to the Boggus Events Center, if they have access to a computer, they can log on to the Pharr Life website, where the games will be streamed live. Web address is www.pharr.life.

To make it to the fina World Series game, where they’ll have a chance to win the whole enchilada, Garza estimates the team will have to win between four and six games.

Best of luck.