LADY EAGLES SOFTBALL DIAMOND NEWS Lady Eagles eliminated in two By the Weslaco Pantherettes By: Conrado Perez, Jr. – Eagle Pass Sports Central “Your
LADY EAGLES SOFTBALL DIAMOND NEWS
Lady Eagles eliminated in two
By the Weslaco Pantherettes
By: Conrado Perez, Jr. – Eagle Pass Sports Central
“Your best and only source for local sports news in Eagle Pass”
The 2016 District 29-6A and bi-district champion as well as the State’s Class 6A 10th ranked Eagle Pass Lady Eagles’ varsity girls softball team sporting an overall season record of 24-6 and coming off a dominating two game series sweep of the La Joya Lady Coyotes for the bi-district crown journeyed to Laredo, Texas of Friday, May, 6. 2016 to open up their best of three series against the Weslaco Pantherettes for the UIL Region IV Class 6A Area Round championship at the Laredo United ISD Student Activity Center. The winner of the Eagle Pass-Weslaco series would advance to the UIL Region IV Class 6A Regional Quarterfinals round to face the winner of the McAllen-Edinburg series. Unfortunately Lady Luck was not kind on this weekend as the lady Eagles were eliminated by the Weslaco Pantherettes in two straight by the respective scored of 13 to 12 in an error filled slugfest in the first game and 8 to 6 in the second game.
GAME 1
The opening game of the best of three series proved to be a game that will be talked about for many years with the lead exchanging hands back and forth the potent Eagle Pass Lady Eagles lineup made their presence known immediately in the top half of the first inning with Melanie Mendoza leading off the game with a single, Sairah Gonzalez also followed with a single. Heather Ruiz boomed a two RBI triple to bring home Melanie Mendoza and Sairah Gonzalez, freshman standout catcher Brooke Diaz came through with an RBI single to drive in Heather Ruiz, Amanda Appleton singled and stole second, Nina Flores laid down a perfect RBI sacrifice bunt to bring home courtesy runner Lysandra Gonzalez, Anna Aguado stroked an RBI single to drive in Amanda Appleton to give the Lady Eagles the early 5 to 0 lead in this game.
The designated home team Weslaco Pantherettes could only answer with a lone run in the bottom of the first but then added a pair of runs in the bottom of the second to narrow their deficit to 5 to 3. In the bottom of the fourth the Weslaco Pantherettes took full advantage of a pair of very costly Lady Eagles to take an 8 to 5 lead with a five run production in that frame.
In the top of the fifth the tenacious Lady Eagles narrowed their deficit to a single run by plating a pair of runs with heather Ruiz drawing a walk. Brooke Diaz boomed a solid double to put runners at second and third, with one out Janessa Garza connected with an RBI single to bring home Heather Ruiz, Nina Flores came through with a clutch RBI single to bring home courtesy runner Lysandra Gonzalez.
The pesky Pantherettes responded with a lone run in the bottom of the fifth to extend their lead to 9 to 7. Trailing heading to the last two innings of this game the proud Lady Eagles came through like true champions as they regained the lead with a huge five run output with Lysandra Gonzalez being issued a walk to start the rally, with one out Sairah Gonzalez connected with single, heavy hitting Heather Ruiz following with a a ringing fence rattling two RBI triple to bring home Lysandra Gonzalez and Sairah Gonzalez, Brooke Diaz reached on an error to drive in Heather Ruiz. Amanda Appleton stepped up to the plate and delivered what seemed to be the potential game clinching blow as she connected with a booming tow run homerun giving the Lady Eagles a 12 to 9 lead over the Pantherettes and carried that lead to the bottom of the seventh needing just three outs to secure the victory in this series opener.
But as the old saying goes “It ain’t over til its over” disaster struck once again as another pair of Lady Eagles errors contributed to the Weslaco Panthers snatching victory from the jaws of defeat with a five run uprising to stun the Lady Eagles by coming back to take the victory by the final score of 13 to 12 over a Lady Eagles squad that committed a whopping 9 total errors in this game.
Score by Innings: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
LADY EAGLES 5 0 0 0 2 5 0 12 15 9
PANTHERETTES 1 2 0 5 1 0 4 13 12 2
Losing Pitcher: Kaitlin Galvan Leading Hitters: Heather Ruiz 2 for 3 with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI’s Amanda Appleton 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI on a solo homerun, Nina Flores 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s, Brooke Diaz 2 for 4 with 2 RBI’s, Sairah Gonzalez 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored, Leslie Martinez 1 for 2, Melanie Mendoza 2 for 5 with 1 run scored, Janessa Garza 1 for 4 with 1 RBI, Anna Aguado 1 for 4 with 1 RBI. Lysandra Gonzalez 3 runs scored and Elena De Alba 1 run scored.
GAME 2
Coming off their heart breaking one run loss the previous night the Lady Eagles returned to the field at 4:00 PM seeking to even the best of three series but the Weslaco Pantherettes took the lead with a lone run in the top of the second inning.
The proud Lady Eagles countered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second to take a 2 to 1 lead with Nina Flores reaching on a one out hit by pitch and Anna Aguado belting a single, with two outs Melanie Mendoza drew a walk to load the bases, Sairah Gonzalez reached on an error enabling pinch runner Elena de Alba to score the tying run, Heather Ruiz also reached on an error allowing Anna Aguado to score the go ahead run.
The lead did not last long as the Weslaco Pantherettes erupted with a six run production in the top of the third on four base hits and a pair of costly Lady Eagles errors to take a 7to 2 lead over the Lady Eagles who were uncharacteristically plagued by errors in this series. The Pantherettes then tacked on a lone run in the top of the fourth to pad their lead to 8 to 2.
The valiant Lady Eagles mounted a semi comeback in the bottom of the fifth with a four run outburst with Janessa Garza reaching on a fielder’s choice with two outs Anna Aguado stroked an RBI single to drive in Janessa Garza, Leslie Martinez belted a single, Melanie Mendoza was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Sairah Gonzalez blasted a bases clearing three RBI double to drive in Anna Aguado, Leslie Martinez and Melanie Mendoza to narrow their deficit to 8 to 6 but that proved to be all the damage the Lady Eagles would mount the rest of the way as they were retired in order in the home half of the seventh and final inning falling by the final score of 8 to 6 to end their season with a very respectable overall season record of 24-8.
Score by Innings: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
PANTHERETTES 0 1 6 1 0 0 0 8 6 3
LADY EAGLES 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 7 4
Losing Pitcher: Kaitlin Galvan Leading Hitters: Anna Aguado 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI, Leslie Martinez 1 for 2 with 1 run scored Izabella Ruiz 1 for 1 Amanda Appleton 1 for 3, heather Ruiz 1 for 3 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI, Sairah Gonzalez 1 for 4 with 4 RBI’s Janessa Garza 1 run scored and Melanie Mendoza 1 run scored.
Although the 2016 softball season ended in an unexpected fashion, Eagle Pass Sports Central congratulates the 2016 Eagle Pass Lady Eagles varsity girls’ softball team on an outstanding season and thank each of you for representing Eagle Pass High School as well as the entire City of Eagle Pass, Texas with dignity, pride and class. To the four graduating senior class members we say thank you for all of the numerous outstanding thrills and memories that each of you provided during your fabulous respective high school softball careers and we wish each of you the very best of luck in your respective future endeavors, ONCE A LADY EAGLE… ALWAYS A LADY EAGLE!
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