HARLINGEN — The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons scored six runs during the top of the second inning to power past the Harlingen South Lady Hawks 8-5 on Tuesday night.
“Really proud of the girls,” Los Fresnos coach Jesus Garza said. “They focus during practice, they do what we ask, I cannot ask for anything else. We had a few mistakes, they still bounced back and kept fighting. They are amazing.”
The matchup was pivotal for playoff seeding in District 32-6A. With the win, Los Fresnos is assured of being the second seed outright, but could tied for first place in district depending on the result of the game between Weslaco High and San Benito.
During the top of the second inning, the Lady Falcons’ Dakota Martinez brought in the first run with an infield single. Tania Rodriguez followed with an RBI double, and Gabi Guevara’s triple with the bases loaded brought everyone in.
Lady Falcons senior Victoria Altamirano drove in the final run of the inning. She drove in another run during the fifth inning and scored in the seventh.
“We finally turned our bats on,” she said. “When they cut the lead, we had to trust each other and not let their runs get into our head. We trusted our pitcher, hitters and defenders, and it came together.”
South’s Emily Ruiz had a good day at the plate, driving in two runs during the bottom of the second inning to cut the lead to 6-2.
“My team fought until the end,” South coach Jose Rios said. “Credit to Los Fresnos for doing their part and having that one big inning. We were able to come back, just not close enough.”
Harlingen South tacked on its next three runs because of errors by the Lady Falcons. A shot to center field by the Lady Hawks’ Karyme Martinez was dropped by the outfielder to cut the lead to just two runs during the sixth inning.
Despite the tough loss, Rios said the girls are ready for the playoffs.
The Lady Hawks left plenty of runners in scoring positions. Lady Falcons pitcher Katelynn Perez worked out of those jams well to go the distance.
“I felt great,” she said. “I just calmed myself down, I knew there was runners on, but I just try and stay calm throughout the game and do what I do.”
