LADY EAGLES SOFTBALL AREA ROUND NEWS

Lady Eagles stunned by

Harlingen South 8 to 6

Blown call and errors prove costly

By: Conrado Perez, Jr. – Eagle Pass Sports Central

“Your best and only source for local sports news in Eagle Pass”

The high soaring Eagle Pass Lady Eagles varsity softball team who feature one of if not the all-time best hitting squad in their 26 year old storied history and currently riding an 18 game winning streak continued their respective post season playoff diamond action on Saturday, May 4, 2019 journeying to Corpus Christi Texas to square off against the Harlingen South Lady Hawks in a one game winner take all for the UIL Region IV Class 6A Area Round Championship with a 6:00 PM softball diamond encounter at venerable Cabinass Field.

*Editor’s Note: Originally this matchup was scheduled to be a best two out of three series in Sinton, Texas but with Mother Nature making a grand entrance early Friday morning with a torrential downpour the playing field in Sinton was deemed unplayable therefore a change in venue needed to be done.

The Eagle Pass Lady Eagles who were the designated visiting team for this contest quickly took the lead erupting with a four run outburst in the top half of the very first inning with Leslie Martinez leading of the game with a single, Brooke Diaz also connected with a single, Alex Martinez laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third, Lorelei Morales was issued an intentional walk to load the bases, Kaylynne Ruiz stroked an two RBi bloop double to drive in Leslie Martinez and Brooke Diaz, with two outs Alyssa Lara connected with a two RBI single to bring home Lorelei Morales and Kaylynne Ruiz to give the Lady Eagles a 4 to 0 lead in this game.

In the bottom of the first Harlingen South countered with a pair of runs on a walk a sacrifice and an RBI double with the throw back from the outfield sailing into the dugout which enabled the runner to come home also to narrow their deficit to 4 to 2.

The Lady Eagles got one of those runs back in the top of the third with Lashay Reyes leading off the frame with a single Alyssa Lara laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance pinch runner Bianca Vielma over to second, Cristabel Martinez belted a single to advance Bianca Vielma over to third, Kaitlin Galvan helped her own cause with an RBI single to drive in Bianca Vielma with pinch runner Romy Flores advancing to third, a passed ball had Romy Flores coming home but was thrown out at the plate.

The Lady Hawks answered back with a lone run in the bottom of the third on a walk, a single a Lady Eagles throwing error and an RBI ground out to make the score 5 to 3 in favor of the Lady Eagles. The Lady Hawks then managed to take their first lead of this game with a three run out put in the bottom half of the fourth inning on three base hits, a sacrifice bunt and yet another Lady Eagles error to take a 6 to 5 lead over the Lady Eagles,

The Lady Eagles supported by their Loyal Legion of fans in attendance fought back to tie the game with a lone run in the top of the fifth with Kaylynne Ruiz drawing a walk, pinch runner Paola Daniel quickly stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball with one out Alyssa Lara brought home Paola Daniel with an RBI ground out to knot up the score at six all.

In the bottom of the fifth the Harlingen South Lady Hawks regained the lead with a pair of runs on a pair of singles and a two RBI double into the left field corner against an over shifted outfield to take an 8 to 6 lead over the Lady Eagles.

In the top half of the sixth the Lady Eagles fought back as Leslie Martinez reached on a one out bunt single, Lady Eagles power hitting catcher Brooke Diaz stepped up to the plate and blasted an apparent game tying two run homerun deep into the night but low and behold the first base umpire made a game changing and clearly atrocious call that according to him was that Leslie Martinez had left the bag too early on the pitch which automatically forces Leslie Martinez to be called out on the play and thus negates the Brooke Diaz potential game tying homerun much to the disapproval of the Lady Eagles coaching staff who argued in vain as well as the total displeasure of the Lady Eagles Loyal Legion of fans who clearly voiced their opinion loud and clear. Eventually Brooke Diaz would fly out to deep left field to end the inning.

In the top of the seventh and final inning, the Lady Eagles number 3, 4 and 5 hitters in the lineup were retired in order on a strikeout a pop fly in foul territory and a ground out to third enabling the Harlingen South Lady Hawks to escape with the questionable 8 to 6 victory over the valiant Eagle Pass Lady Eagles who end their season with an overall season record of 25 wins with 8 losses.

Eagle Pass Sports Central congratulates the mighty Eagle Pass Lady Eagles varsity softball team on a great and memorable season and would like to thank the graduating senior class members Leslie Martinez, Kaitlin Galvan, Brooke Diaz, Alexandra Martinez and Lorelei Morales for the countless number of thrills and memories that each of you provided during your respective Eagle Pass High School varsity softball careers and we thank each of you for representing Eagle Pass High School as well as the entire City of Eagle Pass, Texas with pride, dignity and class and we wish each of you continued success in all of your respective future endeavors, Lady Eagles Forever!

Score by Innings: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E

LADY EAGLES 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 6 9 3

HARLINGEN SOUTH 2 0 1 3 2 0 x 8 9 0

Losing Pitcher: Kaitlin Galvan Leading Hitters: Leslie Martinez 3 for 4 with 1 run scored, Alyssa Lara 1 for 2 with 3 RBI’s, Lashay Reyes 1 for 2, Brooke Diaz 1 for 3 with 1 run scored, Kaitlin Galvan 1 for 3 with 1 RBI, Cristabel Martinez 1 for 3 Kaylynne Ruiz 1for 4 with 1 run scored and 2 RBI’s, Lorelei Morales 1 run scored, Paola Daniel 1 run scored and Bianca VIelma 1 run scored

UIL Region IV Class 6A

Area Round Playoff Results:

EAGLE PASS vs. HARLINGEN SOUTH One Game Series

Sat. Harlingen South won 8 to 6

Harlingen South advances to face PSJA North

LAREDO UNITED vs. SAN BENITO One Game Series

Fri. Laredo United won 2 to 1

Laredo United advances to face Edinburg Vela