RIO GRANDE CITY — Rio Grande City’s Melanie “MJ” Lopez has struggled at the plate this season. The senior third baseman entered Tuesday’s contest with a .220 batting average, recording just 11 hits in 50 at-bats.
Still, Lopez was full of confidence going into the Rattlers’ matchup against the first-place Mission Veterans Patriots, hoping to put on a show during the final district home game of her career.
“I really wanted to put everything out here,” Lopez said. “I’ve worked so hard for this. I had been struggling so bad with my hitting. I just came in here today and told myself I was going to hit.”
Lopez made it happen at the plate Tuesday, going 2-of-3, including a two-run home run during the third inning to power the Rattlers past the Patriots 10-3 in a District 30-5A contest at the Lady Rattlers Softball Field.
“MJ was on fire all day today,” Rio Grande City head coach Nicole Lopez said. “She said today was going to be her day. She capitalized on that and really followed through on it. She just had the right mentality and right attitude today. She came out and proved it wasn’t all talk.”
The victory avenges an early season loss to Mission Veterans for the Rattlers, while moving them into a tie for first with the Patriots, both sitting at 7-2 with one district contest remaining.
The Rattlers wrap up the regular season at 6 p.m. Friday on the road against Laredo Martin. The Patriots host Laredo Cigarroa at 6 p.m. Friday for their regular-season finale.
Trailing 5-0 after two innings, the Patriots went to work, cutting the deficit to two. Mission Veterans got on the board twice on a pair of errors by the Rattlers, while Briana Solis added an RBI to make it 5-3.
The Rattlers’ held the Patriots scoreless through the final four innings, never facing more than four batters.
“I’ll be honest: our pitcher (Denzelle Saenz) was struggling a little bit,” the Rio Grande City head coach said. “So, I talked to our pitcher and our defense and told them we needed to trust our defense. This is probably the first game I’ve seen her struggle this much. I told her we just needed to buckle down and trust what was behind her. I think after that she settled in, and we were able to do what we needed to do as a team.”
After a scoreless first inning, the Rattlers’ bats came to life during the second. Sparked by a homerun by junior Jazel Lopez, Rio Grande City erupted for five runs during the inning, with five players recording hits.
Seniors Rae Ann Cortinas, Aileen Treviño and Melanie Lopez added an RBI each during the second, giving the Rattlers a 5-0 lead after two.
Melanie added a two-run homer during the third, followed by an RBI from Saenz during the fourth to take a commanding 8-3 and never looking back.
“Hitting is contagious,” the coach said. “That’s exactly what happened. We started off with a home run and that just created an opportunity for more athletes to feel like they can hit. To me, that’s what it comes down to, that hitting is contagious.”
