LADY EAGLES AREA SOFTBALL DIAMOND NEWS
Lady Eagles Area Champions
Take two of three over Edinburg
Advance to Play vs San Benito
Brooke Diaz launches a Grand slam Homerun
By: Conrado Perez, Jr. – Eagle Pass Sports Central
“Your best and only source for local sports news in Eagle Pass”
The bi-district champion Eagle Pass Lady Eagles varsity girls softball team fresh off their thrilling best of three series victory over the McAllen Nikki Rowe Lady Warriors this past weekend returned to the diamond on Friday, May 4, 2018 to open their best of three series against the tough Edinburg Lady Bobcats at 7:00 PM in their quest for the UIL Region IV Class 6A area round title at the Laredo ISD Zachry Softball Field.
The Lady Eagles ventured into this matchup sporting an overall season record of 18 wins and 8 losses while the Edinburg Lady Bobcats entered with an overall season mark of 29 victories with 6 losses. The Lady Eagles will be led by their standout starting pitcher Kaitlin Galvan who earned both victories and had an ERA of 1.40 in the series vs. Nikki Rowe. Providing the offensive fire power at the plate will be their season long leading hitter and leading RBI producer stellar catcher Brooke Diaz who had a sensational series against McAllen Nikki Rowe officially going 5 for 10 at the plate for a .500 batting average with two singles, two doubles and a titanic game winning walk-off homerun in game 2 and had a team high 7 RBI’s in that series, first baseman Lorelei Morales going 5 for 10 in the series for a .500 batting average on 5 singles and had 2 RBI’s, Heather Ruiz who officially went 5 for 11 at the plate against Nikki Rowe for a .454 batting average on three singles 1 double and 1 ground ball that rolled all the way to the fence for a triple with 4 RBI’s also contributing at the plate was Kayla Ochoa who went 4 for 9 for a .444 batting average on 4 singles and tallied 4 runs against Nikki Rowe.
The winner of the Eagle Pass Lady Eagles-Edinburg Lady Bobcats series will advance to face-off against the winner of the San Benito Lady Hounds-San Antonio Southwest Lady Dragons matchup in the UIL Region IV Class 6A Regional Quarterfinals round. But once again the Lady Eagles will need to eliminate their usual costly fielding and throwing errors by the entire infield in order to have success against the Edinburg Lady Bobcats.
GAME 1
The Lady Eagles missed a golden opportunity to take the early lead in this vital series opener in the top half of the first inning when Leslie Martinez and Brooke Diaz were issued back to back walks to start the game but rather than advancing the runners up one base to manufacture some crucial runs the Lady Eagles failed to score a single run as Leslie Martinez was thrown out at third on an attempted steal, Heather Ruiz who would strike out a total of three times in this game failed to connect and went down swinging as did Alexandra Martinez to end the inning and stranding Brooke Diaz over in scoring position.
Once again five costly errors by both of the Lady Eagles middle infielders nearly proved disastrous in this game which accounted for five of the six runs the Lady Bobcats produced in regulation play especially one huge throwing error which enabled the Edinburg Lady Bobcats break up a two all tie with a big four run production in the bottom half of the sixth inning.
But the proud Lady Eagles supported a fairly good sized Legion of Lady Eagles fans in attendance answered back with the heart of a true champion in the top half of their final at bat in the seventh inning with a game tying four run output with Leslie Martinez leading off the frame with a solid single, with one out Heather Ruiz stroked her only base hit in this game, Lorelei Morales connected with a single to load the bases, Kaylynne Ruiz was hit by a pitching enabling Leslie Martinez to come home, young freshman third baseman Lashay Reyes the delivered the key hit in this game when she cleared the bases with a solid hit into the gap to bring home Heather Ruiz Lorelei Morales and Kaylynne Ruiz to knot up this game but instead of the inning continuing Lashay Reyes was called out on then play on an interference call on at first base but nevertheless the Lady Eagles stayed alive in this game.
The Lady Bobcats went down quietly in the bottom of the seventh so the game headed to extra innings. In the top of the eighth the Lady Eagles broke this game wide open erupting with a big five run production with veteran and dependable Kayla Ochoa reaching on a one out walk, Leslie Martinez also drew a base on balls, Brooke Diaz was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Heather Ruiz once again failed with runners in scoring position as she struck out looking for her third strikeout of this game, with two outs Alexandra Martinez was hit by a pitch which enabled Kayla Ochoa to trot home with the go ahead run, Lorelei Morales followed with a two RBI single to drive in Leslie Martinez and Brooke Diaz, freshman designated player Kaylynne Ruiz belted a two RBI double to bring home Alexandra Martinez and Lorelei Morales to give the Lady Eagles an 11 to 6 lead over the stunned Lady Bobcats much to the delight of the loud Legion of Lady Eagles fans in attendance.
The Lady Bobcats could only counter with only one lone harmless run in the bottom of the eighth but it was not enough as the Lady Eagles took vital game one of this best of three series by the final score of 11to 7. Leenette Krezdorn earned the pitching victory in relief of staring Lady Eagles’ hurler Kaitlin Galvan who allowed only two runs on five solid complete innings of work inside the circle and left the game tied at two runs apiece.
Score by Innings: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
LADY EAGLES 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 5 11 10 5
EDINBURG 2 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 7 14 1
Winning Pitcher: Leenette Krezdorn Leading Hitters: Leslie Martinez 2 for 3 with 3 runs scored, Lorelei Morales 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI’s and Heather Ruiz 1 for 5 with 1 run scored. Lashay Reyes 1 for 3 with 3 RBI’s on a bases clearing triple, Kaylynne Ruiz 1 for 2 with 1 run scored and 2 RBI’s, Kayla Ochoa 1 for 3 with 2 runs scored, Brooke Diaz 1 for 3 with 1 run scored, Alexandra Martinez 1 for 4 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI,
GAME 2
The second game of the best of three series did not start out according to plan as the Lady Bobcats jumped out the early lead courtesy of a three run homerun in the top half of the first inning and take a lead that they would not relinquish the rest of this game. The proud Lady Eagles could only manage to counter with a lone run in the bottom of the third with Heather Ruiz reaching on an error by the Edinburg second baseman, Alexandra Martinez followed with a single, with one out designated player Kaylynne Ruiz lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home Heather Ruiz,
In the bottom of the fourth the Lady Eagles narrowed their deficit to single run with Lee Ann Dunn reaching on a base on balls, with one out Leslie Martinez laid down a well placed sacrifice bunt to advance Lee Ann Dunn into scoring position, with two outs leading RBI producer Brooke Diaz continued to be a clutch hitter no matter what the situation might be and connected with an RBI single to drive in Lee Ann Dunn but that would prove to be all of the damage the Lady Eagles would muster in this game as the Edinburg Lady Bobcats added another pair of homeruns in this game to come away with the 8 to 2 victory over the Lady Eagles to force a game 3 with winner take all implications.
Score by Innings: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
EDINBURG 3 0 0 0 2 1 2 8 8 3
LADY EAGLES 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 6 2
Losing Pitcher: Kaitlin Galvan Leading Hitters: Brooke Diaz 2 for 3 with 1 RBI, Lee Ann Dunn 1 for 2 with 1 run scored, Heather 1 for 3 with 1 run scored, Alexandra Martinez 1 for 4 and Kaylynne Ruiz 1 RBI
GAME 3
The third and final game of this best of three series was certainly not one for the faint of heart as this do or die game provided some of the most thrilling highlights in the entire 25 year storied history of the Eagle Pass Lady Eagles softball program with some quality hitting exhibition, stellar pitching and timely defensive play, The Lady Eagles who were the designated visiting team for this game dented the scoreboard first with a pair of runs in the top half of the very first inning with Brooke Diaz stroking a one out single, Heather Ruiz reached on a fielder’s choice, Alexandra Martinez lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home Brooke Diaz, Lorelei Morales connected with an RBI single to deliver Heather Ruiz home.
The Edinburg Lady Bobcats answered with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the first to knot up the score at two all. But in the top of the second the mighty Eagles Pass Lady Eagles showcased their potent lineup with a huge five run production to take a 7 to 2 lead over the Lady Bobcats with Lashay Reyes connecting with a solid one out double, Lee Ann Dunn and Paola Daniel were issued back to back base on balls to load the bases, the always reliable Kayla Ochoa came through a with an RBI single to bring home Lashay Reyes with the go ahead run with the bases remaining loaded for the team’s leading hitter and leading RBI producer in the entire district stellar junior catcher Brooke Diaz who brought the Loyal Legion of Lady Eagles faithful to their feet screaming with joy by blasting a booming grand slam homerun way over the centerfield fence to give the Lady Eagles a 7 to 2 lead over the stunned Lady Bobcats.
The Lady Bobcats who themselves have been a very successful program during their history threatened to make a comeback with a pair of runs on the bottom of the third and another pair in the bottom of the sixth but the mighty Lady Eagles bent some but did not break and came through with timely defensive play to maintain their one run lead in support of Lady Eagles standout starting pitcher Kaitlin Galvan who truly battled with the heart of a true champion with five solid innings of work inside the circle before being replaced by ace reliever Leenette Krezdorn who did a remarkable job in relief with two solid innings of work to maintain the Lady Eagles 7 to 6 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh and final inning of this series. The first two Edinburg batters went down quietly and the Lady Eagles needed just one more out to win this game. The Edinburg Lady Bobcats leadoff batter hit a frozen rope shot deep into the right field corner which had extra bases written all over it but low and behold Lady Eagles right fielder Alexandra Martinez turned on the after burners and stretched out and hauled in the shot to the right field corner for the final out of this game and this series giving the mighty and proud Eagle Pass Lady Eagles the absolute thrilling Area championship title with the 7 to 6 victory over the Lady Bobcats taking the series two games to one with Kaitlin Galvan earning the pitching victory and Leenette Krezdorn earning the save. Brooke Diaz once again had a phenomenal series leading the team in hitting with a 5 for 9 performance at the plate and drove in a team leading five RBI’s in this series and for her outstanding effort she was selected as MaxPreps Player of the Game.
Eagle Pass Sports Central congratulates the mighty Eagle Pass Lady Eagles on your most deserving and well earned honor of capturing the UIL Region IV Class 6A area round championship. The Lady Eagles thus improve their overall season record to 20 wins with 9 losses and advance to the UIL Region IV Class 6A Regional Quarterfinals round where they will tangle with the San Benito Lady Hounds with the Dates, Times and Sites yet to be determined. The last time the Lady Eagles defeated San Benito was back in 2007 when San Benito was a mediocre team and certainly not the powerhouse that they have become now. Go Lady Eagles! Beat the Hounds!
Score by Innings: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
LADY EAGLES 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 7 7 2
EDINBURG 2 0 2 0 0 2 0 6 9 0
Winning Pitcher: Kaitlin Galvan Save: Leenette Krezdorn Leading Hitters: Brooke Diaz 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored and 4 RBI’s on a game and series winning Grand slam homerun, Lashay Reyes 2 for 3 with 1 run scored, Lorelei Morales 1 for 3 with 1 RBI, Kayla Ochoa 1 for 4 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI, Heather Ruiz 1 run scored, Lee Ann Dunn 1 run scored, Paola Daniel 1 run scored and Alexandra Martinez 1 RBI.
UIL REGION IV AREA ROUND PLAYOFFS
South San vs. Haringen South One game series
Harlingen South won 6 to 5
Harlingen South advances
Southwest vs. San Benito Best 2 out of 3 series
Game 1 San Benito won 3 to2
Game 2 Southwest won 3 to 0
Game 3 San Benito won 10 to 4
San Benito advances
Eagle Pass vs. Edinburg Best 2 out of 3 series
Game 1 Eagle Pass won 11 to 7
Game 2 Edinburg won 8 to 2
Game 3 Eagle Pass won 7 to 6
Eagle Pass advances
Laredo Alexander vs. Edinburg Vela Best 2 out of 3 series
Game 1 Edinburg Vela won 5 to 0
Game 2 Edinburg Vela won 9 to 3
Edinburg Vela advances