(Courtesy photo/Hector Avila)
By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
The San Benito Lady Greyhounds earned an opportunity to extend softball play beyond their District 32-6A schedule following their district finale against the Harlingen Lady Cardinals.
They now focus on the Edinburg North Lady Cougars in a one-game bi-district playoff at home Friday, April 25, beginning at 7 p.m.
San Benito enters the Class 6A Division 1 postseason with a 15-11-1 overall record. They finished second in a tough district and will take on a North team that fared better overall. Its 23-8-1 record is indicative of that success, but the Lady Cougars finished third in District 31-6A, half of their season losses against district foes.
North has two players (Kyla and Klarissa Rodriguez) who have at least a .400 batting average and eight others with at least a .300 BA.
San Benito has utilized many underclassmen, including pitcher Arielle Hernandez. There are nine sophomores and three freshmen on a team that can be considered young, but now have nearly 30 games of experience, including a warm-up game against Sharyland this week. San Benito has just three seniors.
“We’ve depended on each other all year. We play for ourselves, pushed each other to be better,” Hernandez said at the end of a recent district victory. “When we’re playing our game, we can be unstoppable.”
A San Benito first round win puts the team in the Area round against either Laredo Alexander (11-18) or San Antonio East Central (14-10), who also will have a one-game playoff.
San Benito lost in the first round last year, something the team doesn’t want to repeat after going down to Pharr-San Juan-Alamo in a best of three series.
The previous year, the Lady ‘Hounds advanced to the state semifinal game in Austin, falling to Pearland, 3-2.
San Benito’s final game against district champion Harlingen (18-9 season, 8-0 district) went down as a 4-1 loss.
The Lady ‘Hounds scored their lone run in the seventh inning after sophomore Megan Medina (triple) crossed the plate off a Harlingen error. The Lady ‘Hounds had their biggest threat in the final frame. In the district finale, San Benito had five runners left on base, so the opportunities to score against a quality foe were available.
Medina and fellow sophomores Arianna Rodriguez and Jewelianah Mares each hit a single. Freshman Annalise Rodriguez had a double.
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