SCOTT HARRISON | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
ALAMO — A hot start from the Weslaco High Lady Panthers forced a young PSJA Memorial Lady Wolverines team to play from behind, resulting in a 12-2 win for Weslaco to complete a series sweep with a 12-2 in Game 2 of the teams’ Class 6A bi-district softball showdown.
Weslaco advances in the state playoffs after also winning at home, 13-4, over PSJA Memorial in the opening game of their series on Thursday.
The Lady Panthers took an early 5-0 lead as all nine starters batted in the first inning. PSJA Memorial surrendered five runs in the opening inning for the second straight night, although this time the Lady Wolverines answered with two unearned runs during the bottom of the first.
“Errors. Our girls are young, and I don’t want to use it as an excuse, but it’s a playoff, so our girls are not used to it,” Lady Wolverines coach Gilbert Rodriguez said. “We had some girls who played last year, but we still don’t have the leadership yet to pep them up and bring us up to par. Still, they never gave up.”
PSJA Memorial committed three errors in the first inning on Friday and a total of seven in the game. The Lady Wolverines roster consists of just 12 players — seven sophomores and five freshmen.
Scoring highlights for Weslaco in the first inning were a homer launched over the left-field fence by Audrey Escamilla and a triple by Gabriella Rivera. Each hit drove in two runs.
“We were able to come out and get the hot start we like to, but then we pressed for several innings trying to get the big hit,” Lady Panthers coach Mario Rodriguez said. “The key is just getting on base. We’ve got good base runners and a lot of speed, so it’s just moving them over and bringing them in.”
Both starting pitchers, PSJA Memorial’s Victoria Gonzalez and Weslaco’s Taylor Tafolla, settled down and tossed three scoreless innings before Weslaco sealed the victory in the fifth.
Weslaco added seven runs in the fifth inning, including a third RBI for both Riviera and Escamilla. April Luna took over the pitching duties for the Lady Wolverines and got the final out to halt the rally by the visitors.
Ashley Sada came in to pitch the bottom of the fifth for Weslaco and held PSJA Memorial scoreless to end the scheduled seven-inning game due to the 10-run rule.
“I think what worked today was that Taylor (Tafolla) and Ashley (Sada) were hitting their spots,” Escamilla, the team’s catcher, said. “I think my home run was good and was what we needed to set the tone for the game. Keep everyone’s energy up.”