CORPUS CHRISTI — A pair of runs in the first and third inning gave South San Antonio an early 4-0 lead.
Unfortunately for Harlingen South, it was a lead the Lady Bobcats would not relinquish as the Lady Hawks fell 6-2 in their Class 6A regional quarterfinals series opener at Cabaniss Field on Friday.
The Lady Hawks will now look to win two in a row as Game 2 is set for 11:30 this morning back at Cabaniss. Game 3, if the Lady Green Birds can force one, will follow 30 minutes afterward.
“We got off to a slow start and our early mistakes cost us,” said South coach Elias Martinez. “They took advantage of our early mistakes but, hey, tomorrow is a new day and a new game, and we will go from there.”
The Lady Bobcats managed to hold a 4-0 lead midway through the third inning. For the first two innings, South San pitcher Alyssa Montes kept the Lady Hawks’ sticks off balance with her offspeed pitches.
In the bottom of the third inning, South’s Kaitlynn De La Fuente drew a walk and Krystal Gonzales reached on a base hit with two outs. South needed a momentum shift and got one from senior Ashley Reyna, who slugged a two-run double cutting the deflect to 4-2.
The Lady Hawks had their opportunities with runners on base in both the second and third inning. However, Reyna’s two-run double was the only offense South managed to muster up in the third inning.
Junior pitcher Daisy Gallegos settled down midway through her start, but surrendered another two-run frame in the top of the fifth, extending South San Antonio’s lead to 6-2.
After the two-run inning, Montes settled down and kept the Lady Hawks’ offense at bay as she retired the side in order in the final four innings.
Offensively, South San Antonio swung away for 13 hits while the Lady Hawks finished with just four.
Harlingen South will go back to the drawing board today and looks to bring a patient approach to the plate for the remainder of the series.
“Patience and discipline is what we need to do at the plate. However, it wasn’t the pitching that stalled us. We just made mistakes early and we can’t do that at this stage in the playoffs,” concluded Martinez.
