Lady ’Hounds back in Regional Semies for first time in five years

By PETE BANDA
Special to the NEWS

Not even a sudden burst of rain could cool off these red hot Lady ’Hounds despite forcing their one-game playoff with Harlan High to be rescheduled. Originally slated for Saturday night, San Benito was forced to wait out the weather before putting its playoff hot streak on the line on Monday afternoon.

It was well worth the wait for the Purple and Gold as it managed another shutout victory, advancing to the Regional Semi-finals with a 4-0 win over the Harlan Lady Hawks.

The Lady ’Hounds relied on a superb pitching performance from Sophomore Amira Rodriguez and an explosive fourth inning from their deadly lineup of batters. Rodriguez was near-perfect through five innings, allowing just two hits while pitching her first shutout of the playoffs.

“When Amira’s pitching is on point like that, we’re a hard team to beat,” noted future Hall of Fame Coach Elias Martinez. “It was obvious from the start of the season we had the talent we needed to make a deep playoff run, but I’ve been so impressed with the poise and moxie our young girls have shown. Our expectation of ourselves is sky high and we’ve been able to answer the call so far in the playoffs.”

With the win, San Benito advances to the fourth round of the playoffs for the first time since 2018 and the 10th time in school history, with all but two of those times coming under Martinez. In his second year back in his hometown, San Benito has compiled the best individual season of any sports program in the Valley. Its 35 total wins are already the most in school history by a considerable margin and with 23 wins in their last 24 games, there is no hotter team in Texas.

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