SINTON—The San Benito Lady Greyhounds’ 2018 softball season came to an abrupt end Friday night after a 10-0 Class 6A regional semifinal loss to New Braunfels Canyon at Sinton High School.
Canyon will now await the winner between San Antonio Warren and Edinburg Vela in the Region IV-6A final next week.
Canyon jumped on the Lady Hounds early, including a three-run homer in the fourth inning by Sydney Belvin that gave Canyon a comfortable 8-0 lead after five.
From there pitchers Brooke Vestal and Aliyah Pritchett took over and held the Lady Hounds’ offense to just three hits.
“The kids played tough and kept fighting,” said Lady Hounds coach Denise Lira. “We tried to find ways to get things going, but it just didn’t work.”
San Benito was in the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 2015 season and, despite the loss, has plenty of optimism for 2019.
AJ Jasso, Nana Carrizales and Sarah Garcia are some key names returning to the lineup next season.
“We’re going to miss our seniors. We just talked about how they were our core group – all five of them – and we will miss them.” said Lira.
Senior catcher Joanna Gonzalez is one of the five seniors that leave behind a legacy and winning tradition.
“I felt I got where I needed to be as a player,” Gonzalez said. “Leaving these girls will hurt. I told the younger girls that if they want the spot, work hard because that is how you’re going to get it.”
San Benito had opportunities in the third and fifth innings, loading the bases twice, but they failed to capitalize.
Gonzalez finished 0 for 1 at the plate with a pair of walks while Garcia went 2 for 3. The Lady Hounds finished with just three hits with April Garcia collecting the third hit.
“We had some missed opportunities and we struggled a little bit bringing runs home, and that is something we normally do. We had a good game plan at the plate, but it didn’t go our way tonight.” Lira said.
