WESLACO — Roughly one year ago, Weslaco High’s softball season came to an end in heartbreaking fashion, losing in 10 innings during Game 3 of a third round series against San Antonio O’Connor.
There’d be no heartbreak in Round 3 this season, however, with the Panthers completing the sweep of La Joya with a 5-3 victory over the Coyotes during Game 2 of a best-of-3 Region IV-6A quarterfinal series Friday at the Weslaco High Softball Field.
The victory advances to the Region IV-6A semifinals for the second time in three years, where they’ll take on Lake Travis at a date, time and location to be determined.
“It is a big win. First, hats off to La Joya. They’re a tough program,” Weslaco High head coach Mario Rodriguez said. “Our girls came out ready to play. They overcame some errors in the beginning and in the end, we got the win.”
Base running proved an issue early on for the Panthers, with a pair of runs called back during the bottom of the second and third due to missed bases.
Senior Elizabeth Craig looked to have scored on a La Joya error during the second, but the run was ultimately called back by the umpire due to her stepping out, while an inside the park home run by Dayla Hinojosa during the third was also erased after the sophomore missed third base on her way to home plate.
The errors proved costly for the Panthers, with Weslaco High falling behind 1-0 after a solo home run by La Joya High’s Jenessa Cortinas during the top of the fourth.
“The errors happened early in the game, so we knew we still had more innings and more at bats still left in us,” Rodriguez said. “We just had to take advantage of those.”
While early mistakes plagued the Panthers through the first four innings, the tides turned during the fifth and sixth, with La Joya High on the wrong side of errors during that span.
A single by Hinojosa during the bottom of the fifth turned into the game-tying run for the Panthers, with Ema Galvan getting home on an error by the Coyotes first baseman.
The go-ahead run came not long after, with Mia Rodriguez hitting a pop fly to La Joya third baseman Cortinas, who dropped the ball and allowed Hinojosa to reach home plate.
The Panthers weren’t done scoring yet, with Craig scoring on another Coyotes’ error during the sixth, followed by a pair of runs batted in by Alexis Soliz to give Weslaco High a 5-1 advantage heading into the final inning.
“We just kept chipping away. We used a little bit of small ball. We had our slappers on today, then we got the big hit down the stretch when we needed it.”
The Coyotes didn’t go down without a fight, with Jordan Reyes and Arlette Hernandez each bringing in one run during the top of the seventh to cut La Joya’s deficit to two, but it proved too little too late as the Panthers held on for the win.
Hernandez took the loss in the circle for the Coyotes, striking out eight, walking three and allowing eight hits in six innings pitched. She also led La Joya at the plate, going 2-of-4 with one RBI.
Meanwhile, Madelynn Cantu earned her second win of the series in the circle for the Panthers, striking out four and walking none in seven innings pitched.
Hinojosa led the Panthers at the plate, going 3-of-3. Craig and junior Lola Reyes each added two hits, while Solis led the team with two RBIs.
“I feel really happy for the girls because they put in a lot of work from the minute, we lost last year to know,” Rodriguez said. “This is all their hard work paying off. I’m just happy for them because they deserve it.”
