MERCEDES — Mercedes senior pitcher Kassidie Rodriguez became a key contributor upon arrival for the Tigers, but punctuated her decorated high school career with an exclamation point.
Rodriguez pitched a perfect game in her final home start, an 8-0 bi-district win over Valley View, to finish the postseason with 29 strikeouts, five hits and two earned runs through 18 innings.
“I just remember feeling very comfortable in the circle, confident with my pitches and confident in Coach (Leal)’s game plan defensively,” Rodriguez said. “Bridget caught an amazing game and our defense helped me out as well. It was just a great team effort and we made it work. I didn’t realize till after the game that it was a perfect game, so I guess that was a bonus afterward.”
Rodriguez’s four-year varsity career with the Tigers was filled with similar performances during a stretch as one of the Rio Grande Valley’s elite two-way playmakers and an elite pitcher.
She signs with the Hornets after tallying a 1.47 career ERA, a .169 batting average against and 312 career strikeouts as Mercedes’ ace in the circle.
Rodriguez also provided a steady offensive presence at the plate with a .359 career average with 80 runs, 34 RBIs and 33 steals.
“She’s just a highly intelligent kid. She cares a lot about the team. It was never about herself,” Mercedes head coach Kristy Leal said. “She was the ultimate leader this year. This is her ultimate reward from doing that the past four years for us, so we’re just so excited for and excited for what she’s going to go and accomplish over there at UT Dallas. I know we’re going to take a lot of trips up there to go cheer her on.”
“I’m just feeling very blessed and grateful to everybody coming out here… It feels very surreal like I don’t know if I’m here. It feels very special,” Rodriguez said. “Academically, I know it was a good fit. … I just kept in contact with Coach Sarah (Morales), she was an amazing part of this whole process. She really kept that constant communication and made me feel wanted, so I just know that it’s going to be a great next couple of years.”
Rodriguez saved her best high school season for her senior campaign as one of the team’s versatile veteran leaders.
She posted career-high marks with a 9-1 overall record and 126 strikeouts through 84 innings of work to go along with a 1.07 ERA in the circle.
Offensively, Rodriguez also set career highs with a .452 average, 31 runs, 28 hits and 10 steals as one of the leaders in the heart of Mercedes’ lineup to take home District 32-5A’s Player of the Year award.
She heads to join the UT-Dallas Comets along with fellow Valley softball seniors in Edcouch-Elsa’s Kaylie Gonzalez, Harlingen South’s Alyssa Ledesma and San Benito’s Megan Cavazos.
“Having some people I know going into makes me a lot more comfortable knowing that I’m going to have my softball sisters by my side not only in softball but in the classroom as well,” Rodriguez said. “They have good mindsets, good heads on their shoulders, and they’ll be amazing friends.”
Rodriguez joins Texas State’s Dalilah Barrera and Sam Houston State’s Mika Vento as Tigers pitching at the collegiate level and hopes to set an example for all Mercedes aces to follow.
“It’s like sets expectations especially for younger kids,” Leal said. “They know what it takes because she set the path and set the tone for them.”
“What I want to preach to other athletes is just being able to believe in yourself and just when you’re having hard times trusting God to be convinced you can do it,” Rodriguez said. “If you put your mind to it, you can do it. It showed on the field this year and I really do believe that.”
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