HARLINGEN — Harlingen South handled its business at home Thursday night.
After defeating Brownsville Rivera 13-0 (five innings) on Tuesday, the Lady Hawks followed it up with another 13-3 run-rule five inning victory over Brownsville Hanna, with Daniella Cavazos’ home run highlighting the win.
“We started off sluggish but (Brownsville) Hanna is a good team and they’re well coached so we knew it was going to be a nail-biter and it was,” said Harlingen South head coach Elias Martinez. “We came up with some big hits and took advantage of some situations, but it was the game we all thought it would be.”
Despite the defeat, it was Hanna who got on the scoreboard first. In the top of the second inning, center fielder Marissa Bal-boa’s hit a line drive that went through the glove of South’s third baseman, allowing pinch runner Brianna Garza to score from third.
In the bottom of the third, the Lady Hawks put together a scoring opportunity of their own. Down 1-0, with a full count and bases loaded, second baseman Leeanne Ledesma smashed a ball deep into the centerfield fence that cleared the bases on a stand-up double. The hit brought home Jazmin Gallegos, Krystal Gonzalez and Ashley Reyna, to give Harlingen South a 3-1 lead.
However, the Lady Hawks weren’t finished scoring. Next batter upS, Cavazos, cracked a line drive to centerfield bringing home Ledesma from second base and extending the lead to 4-1.
After South left one on base the inning before, Hanna put together a string of hits and loaded the bases in the top of the fourth. With bases loaded and two outs, the Golden Eagles’ ace pitcher Juliette Gonzalez hit pop up to first, but what was suppose to be an easy out, turned into a two-run error that cut the Lady Hawk’s lead 4-3 heading into the fifth.
With their lead cut to one, Harlingen South pulled together a nine-run fifth inning, starring Cavazos. With a runner on third, the third baseman smashed a ball out of the park, hitting the scoreboard, as she jogged around the bases, putting the Lady Hawks up 7-3.
“She’s got power,” Martinez said with a chuckle. “She’s hit a couple of dingers this year but we can hit the ball from one through nine. We’ve got power we just got to take the opportunities that come up.”
Two hits later, Brownsville Hanna head coach Rey Lerma had seen enough and pulled his ace out, and replaced her with Alexis Garcia. But the scoring didn’t stop there, as South would score six more runs in the inning to end the game.
Next, the Lady Hawks take on defending district champion San Benito Tuesday.