CORPUS CHRISTI — Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight! Those were the words echoed throughout the Rio Hondo dugout on Friday during the Lady Cats’ Class 4A one-game area-round playoff game against Devine at Tuloso-Midway High School.
After trailing 11-2 after fifth innings, the Lady Cats answered with a seven-run fifth inning and cut into the lead at 11-9.
Devine got back a run in the top of the sixth to make it 12-9 with one frame left to go.
In the bottom of the seventh, senior Bianca Cruz swatted a two-run game-tying double to knot things up at 12-12. Then freshman Domo De Jesus provided some heroics with an RBI single that lifted Rio Hondo to an improbable 13-12 comeback win.
“I went to the plate and I believed in myself,” said De Jesus. “Coach told us to believe in ourselves and not give up, and we didn’t. I had been struggling before, but I played with confidence and I was able to pull through for my team.”
Rio Hondo will now await the winner between Cuero and Orange Grove, which play in a decisive Game 3 today.
Cruz finished the night 4 for 4 with three RBIs, two runs and a walk.
“As a senior you have to push through and keep the younger girls motivated,” Cruz said. “We believed that every girl would get on base and we never gave up. In the fifth inning, it was rally after rally. In that fifth inning, we knew we could come back and win; it was incredible.”
Despite grabbing an early 2-0 lead through two innings, Devine counted with a three-run third and exploded with a seven-run fifth inning.
“The problem was they (Devine) piled on runs early and we started to press a little bit,” said Rio Hondo coach Brett Esparza. “We made eight different pitching changes, but once we settled down and Domo got us through that inning, we had no choice but to believe in ourselves and we did. I’m so proud of the girls and how they fought.”
