By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons ended a bitter season with a sweet finish.
Los Fresnos beat the Hanna Lady Golden Eagles 12-1 in 5 innings Friday at Hanna.
The Lady Falcons started the season with playoff aspirations but weren’t able to land one of District 32-6A’s four playoff spots.
However, they sent the team’s four seniors — Amber Dutton, Maya Guevara, Stephanie Perez and Vivikah Pesina — off as winners in their high school finale.
“I thought we finished on a good note,” Los Fresnos coach Traci Blackman said. “We played well. We hit the ball well, something we’ve struggled a little bit this year. I’m just glad that we came out her and just played a good game, finished on a good note.”
Stephanie Perez had two hits, two runs, two walks and three RBIs, and Melanie Loa drove in three runs to lead Los Fresnos’ offense. Miranda Perales had seven strikeouts and allowed five hits in five innings pitched.
The important factor for Los Fresnos in the season finale was they enjoyed themselves, something Blackman said had been missing for most of the season.
“It helps a lot. They did have fun playing and when you’re playing well, it’s always fun,” Blackman said. “They played relaxed, they played together, they were cheering for each other. It was just (the girls) being a team.”
Coach Rey Lerma and the Lady Golden Eagles have their eyes on the future after the game.
Lerma started the game with seniors on the field but switch to underclassmen in the later innings. Hanna returns a solid group of underclassmen who contributed all over the field this season.
“They’re a very resilient group,” he said. “If we can work on their focus and the impact that they can have, I think that’s going to help us. We have a good, young nucleus.”
Cassie Abrego went 2 for 3 and scored Hanna’s (8-17, 4-10) only run of the night.
Los Fresnos (17-10-1, 7-7) led off the top of the first by scoring five out of the first six hitters and bringing 10 batters to the plate, with Perez, Jianna Calvillo and Loa all driving in runs during the inning.
The Lady Falcons had another high-scoring inning with four runs in the third, including a two-run single by Perez.
The Lady Golden Eagles’ offense picked up steam in the third inning and loaded the bases on walks by Lauren Rivera and Sabrina Fernandez, and a single by Mia Paz but Perales struck out two straight batters to end the rally.
Hanna scored its first and only run of the night in the fourth when Juliette Gonzalez brought in Abrego on a double with no outs.
“We let too many opportunities get away when we could get people out,” Lerma said. “We made quite errors, had a lot of walks. Juliette (Gonzalez) was not on. They’re a good ballclub. Los Fresnos has always had tradition. We struggled. I thought we hit the ball well but when we had people in scoring position, we couldn’t get them in.”
Joshua McKinney covers high school sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @joshuabvherald.