The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons upset the District 32-5A undefeated, state-ranked San Benito Lady Greyhounds Friday night in an 8-7 victory. (Staff photos by Francisco E. Jimenez)
By CHRISTY CORTEZ
Special to the NEWS
They say all good things come to an end, and unfortunately for the San Benito Lady ’Hounds their nine-game winning streak came to a heartbreaking end Friday night.
The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons defeated San Benito in seven nail-biting innings by a score of 8-7. The Lady ’Hounds had defeated the Lady Falcons during the first round of district play, but Friday night Los Fresnos came back with a vengeance.
The game started out rough for the Lady ’Hounds and getting three outs wasn’t as easy as it typically is for them. The Lady ’Hounds, who live off making the routine plays, weren’t making them. Offensively San Benito got to work and put the ball in play early on. Freshman ace Amber Jasso started things off with a bunt past third base. As Adriana “Squirt” Flores battled in the box, Jasso stole second. Flores then hit a hard line drive down the third base line that brought Jasso in.
The Lady ’Hounds struggled to hold Los Fresnos down but managed. In the third inning the Lady ’Hounds continued scoring with contributions by Yesenia Penablanca and Jackie Elizondo each chipping in a run.
Los Fresnos kept battling San Benito with hits. After being held for five innings the Lady Falcons then exploded and did what no other district 32-5A team has done thus far: scored more than one run off the Lady ’Hounds.
In fact, one run wasn’t good enough for Los Fresnos as the Lady Falcons hit two over the fence homeruns off Jasso.
San Benito was in an unfamiliar position as the Lady Falcons thrived off their six run lead against the undefeated and state-ranked Lady ’Hounds.
San Benito attempted a comeback in the bottom of the sixth when senior Amanda Garza hit a single toward leftfield that brought in Jasso. Garza later slid into third base safely as Flores made it home with a single. But the Lady ’Hounds were unable to get their defense together due to costly errors.
The Lady Falcons continued to battle with the bat and added another homerun that brought the score to 8-5 with the Lady ’Hounds facing a blemish on their undefeated record. In the seventh inning the Lady ’Hounds were able to come within one point of a tie when two more runs were brought in with key hits by Penablanca, Garza, and KC Sanchez. But San Benito’s perfect season was put to an end when a line drive by Elizondo was called out, this with three on base and a runner in scoring position to tie.
Head Coach Elias Martinez blames the Lady ’Hounds lack of gaining RBI’s for the cause of their defeat, saying, “It was a great game and we left too many runners on base.”
Martinez, however, doesn’t believe this loss will lessen the team’s confidence as the Lady ’Hounds continue on with their season. “This is going to make us stronger. We were riding on this high of being undefeated and all the success we’ve reached and now we’re back to reality, and we’re definitely going to come back stronger,” a confident Martinez said.
The Lady ’Hounds will continue district play in an away game at Weslaco on Tuesday. Game time is at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, San Benito remains in first place in District 32-5A.
2 comments
I think they should be congratulated for a job well done. They have a great team and a great leader. Coaches need to state where there weaknesses are for improvement against the next team. Good Luck Lady Greyhounds….
coach blames team but he isnt at fault…how dumb