HARLINGEN — A six-run bottom of the fifth inning powered the Harlingen South Lady Hawks past the San Benito Lady Greyhounds 9-6 in a District 32-6A meeting Tuesday night.
“They stick together,” South coach Jose Rios said. “This is a tight-knit bunch and it is a senior-led club, the underclassmen follow and they do all of the little things right. This game was a credit and testament to them. We finish.”
San Benito opened a comfortable 6-2 lead after scoring four runs during the top of the third and two in the top of the fifth. The Lady ’Hounds’ Emily Delgado, Jewels Garcia and Alexa Vasquez knocked in runs to build the lead.
With two runners on in the bottom of the fifth, Lady Hawks shortstop Yezenia Perez hit a bomb to put her team back in the game.
“I got walked the bat before,” she said. “I really wanted to hit, so when I came up to bat again, I was, like, ‘I am going to hit this ball and I am going to be smooth with my swing,’ and I did it.”
The South bats kept going in the inning and with two runners on, Karyme Martinez’s double drove in the tying run. The Lady Hawks took an 8-6 lead following an error.
Perez was not done and hit another bomb in the bottom of the sixth, easily clearing the left-field wall.
San Benito threatened during the top of the seventh inning with the bases loaded, but South pitcher Iliana Saucedo struck out a Lady ’Hounds batter to end the game.
“It was a great game,” San Benito coach Elias Martinez said. “We just did not make the routine play when we needed to. We got to bounce back and do what we preach, the routine play. Hats off to South, they handled the pressure and came through.”
