NATHANIEL MATA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
Sarah Odale’s walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh was the storybook ending to a not-so-textbook win for Sharyland Pioneer over Brownsville Lopez.
The Diamondbacks defended home field and completed a two-game bi-district sweep with the 13-12 win in Mission on Friday night.
“My mom always tells me, ‘Just hit with a purpose,’ so every time I think that, I always think through,” Odale said. “I don’t want to tell myself not to strike out, cause then it gets into my head to strike out, so I was just like, ‘Hit for a purpose and help your team through.’”
Odale had an early hit in the game, but she also popped up with the bases loaded. The sophomore power hitter chose the right time to make up it.
Lopez got off to a much better start than Thursday night. But before the end of a full inning, the undefeated District 31-5A champion Lady Diamondbacks came storming back.
Pioneer started its half of the first frame hot. Mariah Youngblood, hitting leadoff, reached on an error. The leadoff hit was nearly stranded, but 2-out hitting by Emily Michki and Arlene Smith helped Pioneer to four first-inning runs of its own.
Fabiola Gonzalez gave Pioneer the lead. The inning looked to be over, but an error on a throw from third allowed the Diamondbacks to score their fourth of the first inning.
From the outset of Friday’s game, it was obvious there would be no shortages of big moments and momentum swings.
Pioneer’s ace, Youngblood, tried to settle in after a shaky first, keeping Lopez from scoring in the second inning. Lopez broke out in the top of the third. The Lady Lobos put up five in the frame, starting when Becky Ibarra turned a single into a double with aggressive base running.
Eight Lobos came to the plate. The damage was almost limited to three runs, but a two-out double from Bianca Olguita drove in Ibarra and Savannah Shank to make it a five-run frame.
The back-and-forth affair continued all night, satisfying fans of offense while probably putting some grey hair on the heads of both coaching staffs.
Pioneer’s half of the third inning was jumpstarted by misplays in the field by Lopez, while the home team made sure to capitalize. After loading the bases, the Diamondbacks were aided by an illegal pitch that cost the visitors an out. Lopez also dropped two fly balls.
Mariam Youngblood’s sacrifice fly gave the lead back to Pioneer.
The Lobos had a chance to end the inning, but an error on the second baseman allowed another Diamondback to cross the plate.
Lopez’s fourth error of the inning, on a pop fly to center, allowed Pioneer to extend the lead to 10-7.
The inning that will haunt Lopez, which was looking to force a winner-take-all Game 3 Saturday morning in Brownsville.
“Today, probably both teams made more errors than we saw last night,” Pioneer coach Orlando Garcia said. “The good thing is that we continued to bat. We have three phases to the game: the fielding, the batting and the pitching. And everything worked today.”
Pioneer’s starter had issues with hitting batters. Despite both pitchers getting roughed up, Youngblood exited first. She was relieved by Madison Sparks after giving up three runs in the fourth.
Lopez started the bottom of the fourth with a new pitcher in the circle, as Alex Castro took over for Kasi Rubio, who started both games of the series.
Castro started strong, keeping high-powered Pioneer from scoring in her first inning.
Sparks hit a batter on her first pitch and gave up a run in her first full inning but wasn’t rattled. The sophomore earned the win after giving up only two runs in the slugfest.
“Going in, I wasn’t too nervous. I have a great team of defense behind me there,” Sparks said. “I had confidence in them. If I can pitch (Lopez) and they hit, my girls will stop it, and that’s a great feeling.”
The reliever Sparks and walk-off winner Odale were two underclassmen who emerged as heroes on a team full of senior leadership. The sophomore pitcher said that in the pressure-filled late innings, it’s about performing.
“You can’t really think about it. It’s pitch-by-pitch,” Sparks said. “It’s not looking at what can go wrong, it’s looking at what can go right. It’s helping each other out and working as a team to get that victory.”
Pioneer will face Tuloso-Midway in the area round of the UIL 5A playoffs.