WESLACO — Midway through the second game of their best-of-three regional quarterfinal series in the Class 5A playoffs, the Los Fresnos Falcons found themselves in a familiar situation.
Los Fresnos, the Texas Girls Coaches Association’s 8th-ranked Class 6A team in the state, faced its first deficit of the series and trailed for the first time since Game 3 of its area round series against then-No. 1 San Antonio Warren.
But for the second weekend in a row, the Falcons came roaring back.
Catcher Sam Campos and shortstop Aileen Avelar each mashed two-run home runs to power a surging Los Fresnos squad to a rally that included 11 unanswered runs to give the Falcons an 11-2 victory, as well as a series and season sweep against the Weslaco Panthers on Friday night at Weslaco High School.
The come-from-behind win marks the fourth straight victory for No. 8 Los Fresnos (22-3), which now advances to the Region IV-6A semifinals for the first time in school history and the last 6A team left standing in the Rio Grande Valley, where the team will face No. 10 Austin Bowie (25-8).
“I’m just really proud of my team,” Avelar said. “I know what we’re capable of and we showed it on the field here tonight.”
“We’ve been working hard all season and we felt like we were due for it,” Campos said. “The defense has been such a great help. Katelyn (Perez) is such a great pitcher, but our defense really came in and closed out this game.”
Congrats to the 8th-ranked Los Fresnos Falcons, who earned their 4th straight win & career victory No. 300 for HC Traci Blackman to punch their ticket to Round 4️⃣ for the first time in school history
Falcons enter the Region IV-6A semis as the last 6A #RGVSoftball team standing pic.twitter.com/0WZ2hSk3ei
— Andrew McCulloch (@ByAndyMcCulloch) May 15, 2021
Weslaco took its first lead of the series on a two-run home run by Jules Garcia to break a scoreless tie during the bottom of the fourth, but the Panthers were quickly overpowered by the Falcons’ big bats.
Campos knotted the game back up with her two-run blast in the fifth and Avelar belted a two-run slam of her own in the following frame to help Los Fresnos retake the lead for good.
“I was just going up there trying to get on base,” Campos said. “I wasn’t looking for a home run, but I’m glad I got that hit.”
“I was just trying to be more selective,” Avelar said. “I wanted to make sure I got a good pitch to hit.”
Campos and Avelar led an offensive explosion at the plate for Los Fresnos in a game that featured six home runs, five of which came from the Falcons.
Los Fresnos cracked the game wide open with a huge seven-run inning during the top of the seventh. In total, the Falcons combined to belt seven home runs in 14 innings during their two-game sweep.
.@LFHSSoftball SS Aileen Avelar & C Sam Campos discuss their team’s 11-2 comeback win over Weslaco to earn a series sweep, their big HRs as part of a huge offensive night for the Falcons & advancing to the Region IV-6A semis for the first time in school history #RGV #RGVSoftball pic.twitter.com/a4FW6Xvk3m
— Andrew McCulloch (@ByAndyMcCulloch) May 15, 2021
The team has now averaged 9.5 runs per contest during its active four-game postseason winning streak.
“It’s been all about momentum. It gets everyone going,” Avelar said. “We’re really loud in the dugout and that’s definitely been helping us.”
“Practice is what has made us great,” Campos said. “We all practice at home and we’ve put in the work.”
On top of vaulting Los Fresnos into the Class 6A Sweet 16, the victory gives Falcons head coach Traci Blackman her 300th career win with the program.
The Falcons advance to the Region IV-6A semifinals for the first time in school history and become the first RGV softball team to achieve the feat since Edinburg Vela and San Benito each reached Round 4 in 2018.
Los Fresnos will face Austin Bowie in the first matchup between two TGCA top 10 teams to feature a Valley team so far this season with game times and locations for the series still to be determined.
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Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch
