Special to the NEWS
And the wins just keep on comin’.
The San Benito Lady ’Hounds jumped on McAllen Memorial from the get-go and never looked back as they raced past the Lady Mustangs 14-0 in five innings at Lady ’Hound Field on Friday night.
The win for the Lady ’Hounds, ranked 12th in the state by the Texas Girls Coaches Association, puts them at a remarkable 19-1 on the season, including a perfect 9-0 in District 31-5A. Thanks to McAllen High’s win over McAllen Rowe on Friday, San Benito saw its district lead increase to two games over Rowe.
“We’re playing well defensively and offensively we’re seeing the ball,” San Benito skipper Elias Martinez said afterward. “Our pitchers are hitting their spots and we’re feeling good about how we’re playing right now.”
All-everything pitcher Amber Jasso started the game by sitting down Memorial in order to set up an offensive explosion from the Lady ’Hounds in the bottom of the first. When the dust settled, San Benito sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs to stun the Lady Mustangs.
Leading things off, Jasso (3-for-4 on the night) reached on a single, stole second and third and then scored on Dina Trevino’s (3-for-3) infield hit for a 1-0 lead. A few batters later, Clarissa Huerta (2-for-3) rocked a two-run double to left-center, scoring Trevino and Jackie Elizondo to push the lead to three. Then Mel Ramirez’s infield single scored Sabrina Mendoza and Huerta scored on Jav’ana Gonzalez’s groundout for a 5-0 edge. The ninth batter of the inning, catcher Kim Harper (2-for-2), beat out a throw to reach base and during that time Ramirez scored for a 6-0 advantage.
The second inning was more of the first as Jasso sat down the Lady Mustangs in order to get another win and some welcomed pitching rest. She was on her game against Memorial, facing only six batters and recording two strikeouits on just 27 pitches.
“Amber’s so tough mentally,” Martinez said of the former All-Valley MVP. “That’s what helps her so much besides being so gifted. She’s definitely at that (2011 season) level and we love it.”
In the bottom of the second, Jasso bunted her way on and scored on Cynthia Rodriguez’s single. Then Trevino scurried home on Elizondo’s RBI single to push the score to 8-0, much to the delight of the faithful fans in attendance.
In the third inning, Crystal Castillo came on to relieve Jasso and was just as effective. Despite allowing Memorial’s only hit of the evening, an infield bloop single by Ari Salinas, Castillo recovered and retired the next seven Memorial hitters she faced. Castillo struck out two and allowed the one hit on 34 total pitches.
San Benito continued to step on the gas in the bottom of the inning as Harper, Jasso, Trevino, Elizondo and Dorothy Millan all came home as the lead rose to 13-0. The next inning, Harper reached on an error and scored to close out the scoring. The Lady ’Hounds totaled 13 hits on the night.
Though they’ve sizzled since an early season non-district loss to Edinburg, the Lady ’Hounds have a challenging week coming up. They’ll square off against PSJA Memorial on Tuesday night before a showdown with McAllen Rowe at home on Thursday night. The Lady Warriors were just a game back of San Benito before falling to McAllen High on Friday and watching their deficit rise to two games.
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