Ladies in playoff mode

By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS

HARLINGEN, TX. —The San Benito Lady Greyhound Varsity Softball Team, after losing to the Lady Cardinals, 10-7 last Friday, also lost the opportunity to be outright District 32-6A champions.

The two were already qualified for postseason play, but the Battle of the Arroyo gave the Lady ’Hounds the chance to sweep Harlingen.

Instead, the two rivals won at home against each other and shared the district title, each with a 7-1 record.

San Benito beat Harlingen 3-2 in March.

A coin flip after their second game determined that SBHS would be the top out-of-district seed entering the postseason.

The Lady ‘Hounds now set their sights on the Edinburg North Lady Cougars (22-9-2 season record) for a second consecutive year.

Their Class 6A bi-district best-of-three series begins Friday at 6:30 p.m. at San Benito High School. Game 2 is at Edinburg North on Saturday at 2 p.m. If necessary, the third game begins 30 minutes later.

A year ago, SBHS defeated North 14-6 at home to advance to the area round, but lost to East Central.

BATTLE OF THE ARROYO

In the regular-season finale against Harlingen, a four-run fifth inning enabled the Lady Cardinals to take a lead they never relinquished.

Despite leading by three runs, SBHS Head Coach Krystal Leal decided to keep starting pitcher Arielle Hernandez in the inning. She was the winning pitcher when the two foes squared off in San Benito a few weeks ago, so it made sense to stick with her ace.

Leal said the visits to the mound are meant to set Hernandez’s mind at ease when the situation warrants it. Leal said she tells Hernandez she has eight teammates who have always had her back in tough situations.

Before Leal’s coaching visit to the mound, Hernandez had struck out a batter, allowed a double, and then issued two consecutive walks.

Unfortunately, after the visit, Hernandez allowed a single that scored two Harlingen runs. In the same sequence, a Harlingen runner stole home to knot the game at 6-6. SBHS gave up the lead when Hernandez allowed two more hits, one of which scored a runner from third base.

Before Harlingen exploded for those runs, SBHS had what appeared to be a comfortable 6-3 lead. The Lady ‘Hounds spread their offensive wealth in the third and fifth innings.

Trailing 3-1 after two innings, SBHS’s Elilah Gallegos earned an RBI, and Khloe Perez had two runs batted in after hitting a stand-up double in the outfield gap. Teammates Kaitlyn Blanco (single), Evelynn Hinojosa (single), and Gallegos (double) each scored a run, giving SBHS a 4-3 lead.

In the fifth inning, Perez once again delivered an impressive batting performance, this time a towering home run over the outfield scoreboard. Perez hit her home run on a 0-1 count off Harlingen pitcher Vivian Garcia, who had allowed Hinojosa to walk in a previous at-bat.

In the sixth inning, Harlingen extended its lead to 10-6 after recording three hits, including a home run by Kim Lara.

In SBHS’s last inning, leadoff hitter Hinojosa blasted a home run. Gallegos followed with a single to center, but pitcher Garcia struck out the final three Lady ‘Hound batters.

Hinojosa and Gallegos were also part of their team’s first score. In the first inning, Hinojosa reached safely on a double. She scored on Gallegos’ double to the outfield.

Garcia pitched the entire game, striking out 11 Lady ‘Hounds.

By comparison, SBHS’s Hernandez recorded 9 strikeouts while allowing more than a dozen Harlingen hits.

Regardless of the outcome, Hernandez said earlier this season that this has been a remarkable year for the team, which was among the best in the Rio Grande Valley. Hernandez is confident that the team will bounce back come playoff time.

The Lady ‘Hounds recorded 7 hits, two of which were homers.

The runs Harlingen allowed San Benito were among the most over the past month of regular-season play.

SBHS enters the playoffs with a 21-7-1 record. Harlingen finished the regular season with a 20-11-1 record.

The SBHS playoff roster is as follows:

1-junior Megan Medina, 2-junior Avani Garza, 3-junior Arianna Rodriguez, 4-freshman Kaitlyn Blanco, 5-junior Arielle Hernandez, 6-sophomore Isabella Gonzalez, 7-junior Evelynn Hinojosa, 8-freshman Rebecca Rivas, 9-junior Eliza Gallegos, 10-sophomore Mia Guerrero, 11-freshman Elilah Gallegos, 12-sophomore Annalise Rodriguez, 13-sophomore Alyssandra De La Rosa, 14-freshman Natalie Varela, 16-junior Jewelianah Mares. 19-freshman Khloe Perez.