WESLACO — Weslaco High’s Katia Reyes is hard to miss on the field. During each game, the Panthers’ pitcher sports a pair of Dutch braids, eyeliner, purple mascara and purple glitter.
If her signature gameday look doesn’t catch the fans’ attention, her play on the field will. Whether in the circle or at the plate, Reyes made her presence felt for the Panthers this season.
The senior ace recorded 1.47 ERA with 95 strikeouts during district play, leading Weslaco to a 12-2 mark and the District 32-6A title. At the plate, she added 19 hits on 44 at bats with 18 RBIs, tallying a .432 batting average.
Her play helped carry the Panthers deep into the postseason, advancing to the Region IV-6A finals, the furthest of any Valley team this season, before bowing out to eventual state champion San Antonio O’Connor.
For her game changing impact, Reyes is The Monitor’s 2022 All-Area Softball Player of the Year.
“It definitely feels amazing,” she said. “All the hard work has paid off, especially these past four years. With it being my senior year, finally being able to earn my spot, it shows that my hard work has finally paid off, so this award just means a lot.
“My teammates kept me going. … They always knew to talk and how to pick me up. I think they noticed how much of an impact it made knowing I could trust them. Individually, it was just about me hitting my spots, trusting what Jules (Garcia) was calling and knowing even if they hit it, my defense was behind me.”
Reyes finished the season with a 20-6 record, recording a 1.43 ERA in 167 innings pitched. She tallied 282 strikeouts on the year, allowing just 95 hits.
She was equally dominant on offense, recording a .452 batting average, 57 hits, 53 RBIs, 38 runs scored and eight home runs in 40 games.
Her mindset played a key role in her success, Reyes said, learning to move past any mistakes quickly and keep her cool.
“Once a team notices that you or a teammate is down, they’ll want to take advantage of that,” Reyes said. “It was definitely a lot of years of work. At first, I used to let myself get down after allowing a hit or striking out. But Coach (Roy) Stroman, the Weslaco head football coach, he let me know that it was noticeable. To hear that from someone who isn’t at every game, I learned that I had to be able to keep my composure and hide what I felt better. From there it became about laughing it off. I just started smiling it off and keeping my head up.”
Reyes’ impact went beyond the field, Weslaco High head coach Mario Rodriguez said, serving as the glue to a young team featuring 11 underclassmen.
One of Reyes’ biggest performances came during the postseason, demonstrating her maturity and composure during Game 2 of a best-of-3 third-round series against San Antonio Harlan. The District 31-6A MVP tallied 12 strikeouts en route to a no-hitter, leading her team to a 7-0 victory and into the fourth round.
The McLennan College signee finished with 94 strikeouts during the Panthers’ march to the Region IV-6A finals, adding a .400 batting average with 12 RBIs.
“There were a lot of times where we probably could have fallen apart,” Rodriguez said. “Her maturity level kept this whole team together. You’re going to strive for perfection, but you’ll never be perfect. The times we struggled, she didn’t. That’s the talk I had with both Jules (Garcia) and Katia. When everything else failed, they couldn’t. When everything else went bad they couldn’t. They had to be playing at their best and they did. It was proof in the playoffs with our long run.”
