Edinburg North's Joliana Mancha and Annabel Segoviano played key roles in pushing the Cougars to a comeback win over District 31-6A rival PSJA High on Saturday night to keep their team's postseason hopes alive entering the final week of the regular season

SAN JUAN — The Edinburg North Cougars found themselves in another precarious situation Saturday night at PSJA High in a game with playoff intensity.

After battling back and forth with crosstown rival Edinburg High and falling just short the night before, the Cougars had their backs up against the wall late against the Bears in a must-win District 31-6A game for both teams.

But Edinburg North would not go down swinging.

After entering the final inning behind with their season on the line, the Cougars came roaring back to reclaim the lead and slam the door shut for a 6-5 victory against PSJA High that keeps the team’s postseason hopes alive.

“Tonight was a playoff game,” Edinburg North head coach Richard Tressler said. “I’m proud of the girls because we never quit. We could’ve caved in a couple of times, but we didn’t. We bent but we didn’t break. They’ve got a good team, too, and it could’ve gone either way. I’m just thankful it went our way.”

“We all worked together as a team to hype each other up and we did,” Edinburg North pitcher Joliana Mancha said. “We did what we needed to do and we played our hearts out.”

The Cougars’ win carries with it significant playoff ramifications for teams throughout 31-6A scrambling to punch their tickets to the postseason.

Edinburg North improved to 13-6 overall on the season and 9-6 in district play to move into a tie for fourth place with Edinburg High with one regular-season contest remaining for each club.

The Cougars and Bobcats now both sit half a game back from third-place Mission High, which has two 31-6A games left to go against first-place PSJA North and second-place Edinburg Vela.

The loss also drops PSJA High to 11-7 overall and 8-7 in district competition, likely ending the Bears’ playoff aspirations.

“I had a lot of confidence in each and every one of my (fellow) players,” Edinburg North second baseman Annabel Segoviano said. The energy was big, especially after last night. It was redemption, it was really good for us and we knew what had to be done.”

In a game that featured four ties and four lead changes, Mancha and Segoviano came through in the clutch for the cardiac Cougars.

After PSJA High took a 3-1 advantage on catcher Kaylah Hernandez’s RBI triple off the wall in left field, Segoviano delivered when it mattered most.

Edinburg North’s leadoff hitter smashed an opposite-field fly ball deep into right field after an error and single put a pair of runners on base.

Segoviano sprinted to the plate for a three RBI inside-the-park home run to put the Cougars back in front 5-4.

“I knew from the get-go that she was going to pitch outside,” she said. “That’s all I get during the season, so I work a lot on that during practice, letting it travel and not letting my bat drop. I tried my best to send it the other way and let my bat work so, hopefully, I can bring some runs in.”

The Bears quickly retook the lead in the bottom of the inning following a two RBI stand-up triple from shortstop Alexis Morin, but Segoviano had the final say when she returned to the plate to start the seventh inning.

The Cougars’ second baseman laced a line drive into right field that bounced off the foul line and to the warning track.

Her lead-off triple helped kickstart an Edinburg North rally that included an RBI single from Mara Guerra to tie the game. Guerra came around to score the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice later in the inning.

Segoviano finished with a 3-for-4 night at the plate that included three RBIs, two runs and the Cougars’ only two extra-base hits of the game.

“Every appearance I have, I just leave it all out on the field,” she said. “It’s all or nothing between those white lines. I have a constant reminder in my head that big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games.”

That brought Mancha back into the circle for the bottom of the seventh with the top of the Bears’ lineup coming up to bat.

Mancha put the exclamation point finish on Edinburg North’s come-from-behind victory, striking out two of the final three hitters of the game with a blistering rise ball to cap off a five-strikeout, complete-game performance.

“You want to do your best as a pitcher to keep your team up and try to shut those batters out as much as you can,” Mancha said. “Even with some of the big hits they had, my team was there and my defense was there protecting me while I protected them, which was amazing.”

“(Tonight) showed how much we really wanted and how much we want to keep going,” Segoviano said. “No matter the outcome, we’ll keep running and we’ll keep hitting.”

The Cougars will close out their regular season when they host La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

PSJA High, meanwhile, will travel to face Edinburg High in its regular-season finale at the same time.

The Bobcats, Cougars and Bears can each clinch playoff berths with victories Tuesday night and back-to-back losses by Mission against PSJA North and Vela.

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Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch

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