By ARMANDO GARZA
Special to the NEWS
About the only “bad” thing to happen on Friday night was Crystal Castillo losing a perfect game in the seventh inning.
Other than that, it was ALL good.
Castillo was again brilliant, allowing just two hits and striking out 14 as the San Benito Lady ’Hounds shut out Weslaco East 4-0 in their Class 6A bi-district one-game playoff at Lady Hound Field.
With the win over the fourth-place Lady Wildcats, 32-6A champion San Benito (23-1) moves on to the Area round to face either Laredo United or McAllen Memorial next weekend.
“In the playoffs, everybody’s good and records go out the window,” San Benito coach Elias Martinez said. “Everybody’s gonna fight til the bitter end and I’m glad they (East) did because it woke us up. We take nothing for granted.”
Castillo, meanwhile, turned in another workmanlike performance, striking out the side in the first, third and fourth innings as she fought off a mild cold with a sizzling outing.
“It felt like any other game out there,” she said. “I was trying not to pay attention to it (perfect game) because then I’ll just be thinking about it. I knew I had my team behind me and my defense always has my back.”
Lady ’Hound catcher Kim Harper came up big in the first inning when she legged out a bunt single and later scored on an infield putout. As East fought valiantly, the game stayed that way until the fifth, when Jav’ana Gonzalez walked and scored on another super infield hit by the speedy Harper. Then Mel Gonzalez singled and got to third on a two-base error by the East right fielder to bring Harper home for a 3-0 advantage. Mel Gonzalez rounded out the scoring when she scored on a passed ball.
Castillo cruised until the seventh, when East’s Britney Garcia broke up the perfecto-bid and later Priscilla Tirado doubled. But a liner by Myra Barrera was caught and Garcia was doubled off at third to end the game.
Meanwhile, Castillo spoke of the youth growing up in a hurry as the playoffs roll on for the Lady ’Hounds.
“I think we did good because we have quite a few freshmen,” she said. “I think they handled the pressure very well and we’re just gonna keep getting better at it. We just stayed focused tonight and kept communicating.”
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