MERCEDES — Mercedes’ Elise Perez walked up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in a tied ballgame in the bottom of the seventh, and the Tigers’ season was hanging in the balance.
Perez needed one pitch.
The junior connected for a blooper over the infield to give the Tigers the 5-4 win in Game 2 on Friday night to force a Game 3 against Sharyland Pioneer at 11 a.m. today at Sharyland Pioneer.
“I feel relieved,” Perez said. “I feel really successful, and I am so proud of me and my team for coming through with the win. We believed in one another and trusted one another.”
Perez watched as her teammate struck out during the previous at-bat, setting up the tense finish.
“I knew that on her first pitch she leaves them right down the middle,” Perez said. “I know that was the only pitch she was going to give me, so I just trusted myself and took it. I did it for my team.”
Strong baserunning by Lindsey Lopez helped the Tigers come back after being down 4-1 at one point. Lopez scored on an error during the sixth and drove in a run in the fourth.
Sharyland Pioneer’s Ali Colon put the Diamondbacks up 4-1 with an inside-the-park home run during the top of the fourth. Kayla Guerrero’s sacrifice fly in the third made it 3-1 after a run scored when a batter walked.
Mercedes catcher Ashley De Leon tied the game during the second inning with a home run. Sharyland Pioneer scored the first run of the game with a double by Lexi Lopez, but left runners on base.
Sharyland Pioneer won the first game 6-4 on Thursday night at Pioneer.
“(Today) we are going to come back even harder,” Perez said. “We gave ourselves an opportunity and a chance to do this, so (today) is a new day and we are still bringing it.”
Brownsville Lopez, La Joya High, La Joya Palmview advance
Brownsville Lopez defeated McHi Friday night 11-1, winning the series in dominant fashion. The Lobos will face Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial, the District 29-5A champs, next week.
La Joya is going to have tow teams in the second round after La Joya High squeaked out a 3-2 victory on the road against Los Fresnos to win the series and La Joya Palmview defeated Gregory-Portland 5-2 to wrap up its series at 2-0 also.
La Joya High faces either San Antonio Harlan or Laredo Alexander in round two.
La Joya Palmview awaits the winner of Mercedes and Sharyland Pioneer, as mentioned above wrap up their series at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Weslaco East picked up an impressive 7-1 win over District 31-5A champs PJSA North, handing the Raiders its first real loss of the season. The Wildcats have a chance to win the series at 6 p.m. Saturday night in Pharr.
Harlingen South wrapped up its series with Edinburg Vela and will now face Victoria East in the area round.
Harlingen High also advanced after beating Edinburg North in two games. The Cardinals will face either SA Brennan or Laredo LBJ in round two.
