AUSTIN — It was a heck of a day for Rio Grande Valley high school softball, a historic one.
The Valley will have two representatives in a state title game in the first season for the first time ever after the Harlingen South Hawks and Weslaco High Panthers won semifinal games in Class 5A and Class 6A respectively and they did so Friday in Georgetown with everyone on the edge of their seats.
Harlingen South will meet Melissa in the Class 5A state title game at 1 p.m. and Weslaco High faces Waco Midway at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Harlingen South 1, Aledo 0
Thursday night and early morning Friday rains in Austin moved the games to Georgetown at East View High School from McCombs Field in Austin and it was Harlingen South to take the field first at 1 p.m.
Hawks junior pitcher Lexi Sandoval has been brilliant all season in the circle and continued with maybe her best game ever in orange. Sandoval struck out 10 Aledo batters after throwing six innings and picking up two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
The Hawks closed the game with Amira Rodriguez.
It was a crazy final out, the Aledo runner advancing to home from third got caught in a pickle thanks to an awkward throw, but Jaylin Mata was there to scoop it up. Mata and catcher Haley Vasquez ran down the runner to pick up the final out.
“We knew it was going to be a tight ball game, we just said, ‘hey continue to fight until the end,’ and we did just that,” Harlingen South head coach Joey Rios said.
Rios praised Sandoval for her performance in the circle. The junior was happy about hers, “a win is a win,” she said to reporters from KRGV and KVEO as fans shouted congratulations and words of encouragement to her during her interview.
“We are one game away, one game away,” she said. “Why not finish it off.”
It was a pitcher’s duel for sure. Sandoval picked up the win over Aledo’s Taylor McKean, but McKean was equally as good on the day. McKean was probably done in by the walks after finishing with 14 strikeouts.
The Hawks picked up six walks and only one hit according to the UIL’s live stats from the game.
Harlingen South benefited from a Yezenia Perez walk in the third. Perez was moved over by Rodriguez who officially got on base because of an error, but it was hard enough to force a bobble, they are strict with the scoring at state.
Hawks senior Emily Ruiz came up next to deliver the only hit of the game for the Hawks. Ruiz took a 3-2 pitch to right center to drive in Perez from second.
“I just really focus on calming myself down and just doing everything that I have been taught throughout the season,” Ruiz said. “I just try to and look for the right pitches.”
Ruiz battled an illness/stomach bug against Liberty Hill and into practice this week. Ruiz has come through clutch on multiple occasions during the Hawks’ run.
“One more game left, this is everything we have been working for – all season,” Ruiz said. “We are all really excited.”
The Hawks have their toughest opponent of the season in the state championship with Melissa.
Melissa defeated Lake Belton 4-0 and it does seem cliché to say Melissa is the best, but the Cardinals took down Aledo 11-2 early in the season. That was a long time ago and now they are going to face a Harlingen South team that have ice in their veins.
Weslaco High 5, Denton Guyer 3
If your heart was not done in after the South game, the Weslaco High game took care of you.
It was 13 innings of pure intensity as the newly No.1 ranked team in Texas, Denton Guyer, was taken into deep waters by the Weslaco High Panthers.
The Panthers, fueled by Wildcat tears (Gatorade), battled with the Guyer Wildcats for four hours in Georgetown to come out on top thanks to great pitching by Madelynn Cantu and some timely hitting by the Panthers’ offense to advance to the Class 6A state title game.
Cantu, a sophomore, has been terrific all season and has pitched double-headers this postseason already. Cantu went back-to-back games against Lake Travis in round four in temperatures well over 100 degrees in Beeville.
Georgetown was a lot cooler and Cantu looked fresh in the dugout even after giving up three runs in the sixth, she never looked like she would not get the job done Friday night for the Panthers.
Cantu struck out 12 and was especially good in pressure situations as the sophomore worked out of more jams than she probably should have. The Wildcats finished with 15 hits.
Weslaco High senior catcher Romy Nuñez started the Panthers off in the 13th inning with a single. Kalysa Izaguirre came into run and she was moved over to second by a nicely placed bunt by Andrea Ortiz.
Senior right fielder Ema Galvan has been amazing at the plate late in postseason and she continued to deliver with the game-winning RBI by placing a line drive down the third-base line.
“Coming in when the moment is right … words can’t describe it,” Galvan said. “I was waiting for her to pitch me inside.”
Galvan was then driven in by Dayla Hinojosa for insurance. Hinojosa had a great game at the plate, going 4-for-6 with two runs scored as well.
Senior Elizabeth Craig chipped in with two hits, Nuñez also should have had two but it was scored an error by the UIL and fellow senior Alexis Soliz came through with a big hit to drive in Hinojosa in the sixth.
Panthers second baseman Mia Rodriguez also drove in Hinojosa as well as Lola Reyes in the fifth inning when she picked up a double. Rodriguez’s hit looked to be a game-winner if not for the late rally by Guyer.
“We just kept fighting, and so did they, I give a lot of credit to Guyer – they never gave up,” Rodriguez said. “Neither did we. I am just glad we got the win in the end.”
Galvan and Rodriguez said they were not overly worried about rankings come into the game since they have already beaten Katy, who was the previous No.1 but was taken out in the regional championships, and they know what they are capable of.
Weslaco High will look to grab that No. 1 spot for good at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Final takeaways
Both sets of players and coaches have talked about being able to play at McCombs Field during practice this week, probably one of the biggest perks about coming to state is playing where the current No. 1 NCAA D1 team, the University of Texas, plays at.
So, the news this morning was kind of disheartening in a way, but one thing both teams also said during practice this week was that they are enjoying the fun times and memories they are making on the fields and in the dugouts.
Both teams will have one more game of that.
