By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — More than five and a half hours after the opening pitch in Game 2 of their best-of-three regional quarterfinal series, Weslaco High put the finishing touches on an 8-4 victory over Edinburg High on Saturday.
The game was delayed for nearly four hours after due to lightning nearby the Edinburg High stadium. With harsh winds and a softball field under water, both coaches agreed an hour after the initial delay to move the game to Edcouch-Elsa, where it was also raining.
The game resumed around 9:20 p.m., with one out in the top of the seventh inning and Weslaco High up to bat.
“Not knowing how mother nature was going to react or what was going to happen, I thought we were going to be able to finish it (as planned),” Lady Panthers coach Mario Rodriguez said. “Being so close and then waiting, that was the worst.”
He added: “I think we’ve taken the tough road for the first round, second round, now the third round. We’ve faced really good competition. For them, it’s who’s next? Let’s play ball.”
Weslaco (26-6), which had never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs, moves on to the regional semifinals after sweeping Edinburg. It’ll face Corpus Christi Carroll at a time, date and place to be determined.
Before the weather became one of the overlying storylines in Saturday’s game, the Lady Panthers had built a significant lead by the third inning. They scored six runs in the second, five of those unearned. It came via two errors, a wild pitch and a walk, as Weslaco took a 6-1 advantage.
Then in the third, Gabriela Rivera got on base with a double before an error on Helen Gonzalez’s hit scored Rivera from second.
“They played great, and our kids made some mistakes early in the game that cost us,” Edinburg coach Jesse Banda said.
The Lady Bobcats (24-10) then replaced backup pitcher Amber Reyes with Dezi Marmolejo, who hurled a complete game Friday in a 7-1 loss to open the series. Through the ensuing three innings before the weather delay, Marmolejo retired seven batters while allowing four hits and no runs.
In the process, the Lady Bobcats chipped away at the deficit. Leadoff hitter Valorie De Leon, who finished 3-for-4 at the plate, singled to get on base before scoring on an error at shortstop following Marmolejo’s hit. Then, Kayla Contreras crushed a hit to center field that was mismanaged, allowing Marmolejo to score and cut the deficit 7-3.
Taylor Tafolla, who pitched a complete game for Weslaco on Friday, finished Game 2 allowing seven hits and one walk. She also recorded two strikeouts.
Weslaco yielded its final run in the fourth inning, when De Leon singled to left, driving in Kristee Salas.
Rivera, who finished 3-for-4, gave the Lady Panthers an 8-4 advantage when she scored from second off Gonzalez’s single to second.
Now, Weslaco will prepare for Corpus Christi Carroll, which swept San Antonio Johnson in the third round, leaving the Lady Panthers as one of two upper-Valley teams still alive in the postseason.
“We knew we had something special with the kids there,” Rodriguez said. “But to say that I knew exactly that we would be here, no. Just enjoying the ride here.”