UIL REGION IV 6A BI-DISTRICT SOFTBALL DIAMOND NEWS

Eagle Pass Lady Eagles

BI-DISTRICT CHAMPIONS

Sweep La Joya Lady Coyotes in two straight

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

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

The six time district champion and highly touted Eagle Pass Lady Eagles varsity girls’ softball team the District 29-6A champion opened their quest for the 2016 UIL Region IV Class 6A Bi-District championship on Friday, April 29, 2016 by squaring off against the La Joya Lady Coyotes the District 30-6A fourth place representative in a Best 2 out of 3 series at the Laredo ISD Zachary Softball Complex with an 8:00 PM series opener.  Paced by the sensational pitching of freshman hurler Kaitlin Galvan who hurled two shutouts and the hitting of the entire Lady Eagles lineup especially Heather Ruiz who had a phenomenal two game series going 6 for 7 at the plate, scored 4 runs and had  6 RBI’s to spearhead the Lady Eagles to a simply dominating sweep of the La Joya Lady Coyotes in two straight by the respective scores of 11 to 0 and 12 to 0 to advance to the UIL Region IV Area Round where they will face off against the Weslaco Lady Panthers with date, site and time to be determined.

GAME 1

The high powered Lady Eagles lineup showcased their offensive power right off the bat as they took the lead with a four run production in the bottom half of the very first inning pounding out five solid base hits starting with Sairah Gonzalez who ignited the rally with a one out single, heavy hitting Heather Ruiz blasted and RBI triple to bring home Sairah Gonzalez with the first run of the game, freshman catcher and cleanup batter Brooke Diaz came through with an RBI single to drive in Heather Ruiz, four year standout right fielder Amanda Appleton followed with an RBI double to bring home courtesy runner Lysandra Gonzalez, Janessa Garza connected with an RBI single enabling Amanda Appleton to come around to score giving the Lady Eagles a quick 4 to 0 lead in this best of 3 series opener.

This would prove to be more than enough support for the talented Lady Eagles freshman hurler Kaitlin Galvan who continues her mastery inside the circle mowing down the opposition hitters with the help of her equally talented freshman battery mate freshman catcher Brooke Diaz.   The youthful Kaitlin Galvan went the distance in this contest hurling five complete innings of work allowing no runs, issued two walks, struck out five batters and allowed just one harmless base hit and was supported by the usual stingy Lady Eagles defense and the potent Lady Eagles offense as well in this game to earn the pitching victory.

In the bottom of the second the Eagle Pass Lady Eagle hitting and scoring assault continued with another four run out put to extend their lead over the La Joya Lady Coyotes to 8 to 0.  Leslie Martinez got things started with a one out single, Melanie Mendoza walked, Sairah Gonzalez loaded the bases with an infield hit.  Lady Eagles left handed hitting shortstop Heather Ruiz nearly pulled off a scene from “The Natural” as she nearly tore the cover off the ball booming a two RBI double that rattled the fence to bring home Leslie Martinez and Melanie Mendoza on the play, with two outs the always reliable Amanda Appleton came through with a clutch two RBI single to bring home both Sairah Gonzalez and Heather Ruiz.

In the bottom of the fourth the Lady Eagles proceeded to put the 10 run rule in effect with a three run outburst with pinch hitter  Lysandra Gonzalez reaching on a two out walk and immediately showcased her speed by stealing second, Janessa Garza also walked, pinch hitter Miryam Salinas belted an RBI single to drive in Lysandra Gonzalez, Anna Aguado reached on an error enabling Janessa Garza to score on the play, the ever aggressive Lady Eagles then pulled off a double steal to perfection with Anna Aguado stealing second and Miryam Salinas swiping home giving the pride of Eagle Pass High School a huge 11 to 0 lead over the Lady Coyotes.

In the top half of the fifth inning, Kaitlin Galvan sealed the series opening victory as she allowed her only hit of this game but came back to strike out the final batter giving the Lady Eagles the dominating 11 to 0 victory in game 1 of the best of 3 series for the bi-district crown.

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

LA JOYA 0   0   0   0   0   x   x     0      1      0

EAGLE PASS 4   4   0   3   x   x   x    11    13     1

Winning Pitcher: Kaitlin Galvan (One-Hitter) Leading Hitters: Amanda Appleton 2 for 2 with 1 run scored and 3 RBI’s, Janessa Garza 2 for 2 with 2 RBI’s, Leslie Martinez 2 for 2 with 1 run scored, Heather Ruiz 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI’s, Sairah Gonzalez 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored, Anna Aguado 1 for 2 with 1 RBI, Brooke Diaz 1 for 2 with 1 RBI, Miryam Salinas 1 for 1 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI, Lysandra Gonzalez 2 runs scored and Melanie Mendoza 1 run scored.

GAME 2

The Lady Eagles resumed their best of three series with the La Joya Lady Coyotes on Saturday, April 30, 2016 with a 1:00 PM encounter at the Laredo ISD Zachary Softball Complex.  The highly touted Lady Eagles brought their hitting shoes with them as they pretty much settled the eventual outcome of this game and series exploding with a huge 10 run production in the top half of the very first inning.  Leadoff batter Melanie Mendoza and Sairah Gonzalez drew back to back walks, heather Ruiz continued to swing a red hot bat belting and RBI single to bring home Melanie Mendoza with the first run of the game, freshman cleanup batter Brooke Diaz reached safely on a fielder’s choice but Sairah Gonzalez was tagged out at home on the play, Amanda Appleton blasted an RBI double to bring home Heather Ruiz, Janessa Garza connected with a two RBI double to drive in courtesy runner Lysandra Gonzalez and Amanda Appleton, Lady Eagles senior third baseman Nina Flores came through with an RBI single to bring home Janessa Garza, Anna Aguado reached on an error, Leslie Martinez belted an RBI single to bring home Nina Flores, with two outs Sairah Gonzalez reached on an error enabling Ana Aguado to come home on the play, Heather Ruiz connected with a solid RBI single to drive in Lesle Martinez, Brooke Diaz boomed a two RBI double to drive in both Sairah Gonzalez and Heather Ruiz to give the Lady Eagles a 10 to 0 lead over the Lady Coyotes.

Once again this was way more than enough cushion for the standout and youthful Lady Eagles’ starting pitcher Kaitlin Galvan who was once again very dominant inside the circle tossing three complete shutout innings allowing just two harmless hits and registering four strikeouts before giving way to Lady Eagles reliever Leenette Krezdorn who hurled two complete shutout innings.

In the top of the third the Lady Eagles padded their lead with a lone run with Sairah Gonzalez reaching on a one out error and immediately stole second,  heather Ruiz came through again with and RBI single to bring home Sairah Gonzalez to make the score 11 to 0 in favor of the Lady Eagles.  The Lady Eagles then brought an early conclusion to this game as well as the series by tacking on one more run in the top of the fifth with Melanie Mendoza drawing a walk, with one out Heather Ruiz who had a perfect day at the plate collected her fourth consecutive base hit of the game to bring home Melanie Mendoza with the 12^th and final run of this game.

Leenette Krezdorn retired the side in order in the bottom of the fifth to secure the 2016 UIL Region IV Class 6A bi-district championship for the powerful Eagle Pass Lady Eagles much to the delight of the loyal Lady Eagles Legion in attendance..

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

EAGLE PASS 10  0   1   0   1   0   0     12    10    0

LA JOYA 0   0   0   0   0   x   x      0      3     4

Winning Pitcher: Kaitlin Galvan Leading Hitters: Heather Ruiz 4 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 4 RBI’s, Amanda Appleton 1 for 2 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI, Nina Flores 1 for 2 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI, Janessa Garza 1 for 2 with 1 run scored and 2 RBI’s, Leslie Martinez 1 for 2 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI, Brooke Diaz 1 for 3 with 2 RBI’s, Izabella Ruiz 1 for 1 Sairah Gonzalez 2 runs scored, Melanie Mendoza 2 runs scored and Lysandra Mendoza 1 run scored.

Eagle Pass Sports Central congratulates the 2016 Eagle Pass Lady Eagles along with their respective coaching staff on your outstanding achievement in winning the 2016 UIL Region IV Class 6A bi-district championship and wish you the very best of luck in your upcoming UIL Region IV Class 6A Area Round matchup against the Weslaco Lady Panthers Eagle Pass Sports Central takes great pride to continue to be the only local media source to have covered each and every Eagle Pass Lady Eagles varsity softball games this year.

Editor’s Note: For those very few that like to water down the matchups between a number one seed vs. a number four seed: In 2013 the Lewisville Lady Farmers finished fourth in their district and ended up winning the Class 5A UIL State Softball Championship.  The Converse Judson Rockets also accomplished that same feat in football. Today, Saturday, April 30, 2016 the PSJA Memorial Lady Wolverines (14-13) the #4 seed defeated the #1 seeded San Benito Lady Hounds (27-1) 3 to 2 to take the series two games to one. (San Benito was ranked 4^th in Class 6A)  The fact is, in the playoffs seeding and records do not matter at all.