TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
WESLACO — Edinburg High’s Lady Bobcats hadn’t lost a game in nearly 10 weeks.
Thursday night, they lost by nearly 10 runs.
The Weslaco Lady Panthers scored three runs in the third and added seven more late in the game to defeat the visiting Lady Bobcats 10-1 in Game 1 of a Class 6A softball regional quarterfinal series Thursday night.
Charlene de Anda went 3 for 4 at the plate with three RBIs and scored two runs, and Alyssa Escamilla went 2 for 4, scoring two runs while playing stellar defense at shortstop.
Lady Panthers relief pitcher Ashley Sada, a sophomore, entered in game in the middle of the third and proceeded to sit down 10 straight Edinburg batters to close out the game.
Weslaco Coach Mario Rodriguez said the team approached Game 1 with the thinking that it was a stand-alone contest. No matter what happened, it would not carry over to Game 2. Plenty of softball remains to be played, he said.
“Tonight was a great win. Really, it could have been a little bit closer game, but we came out and did what we were supposed to do,” Rodriguez said. “We weathered the storm. They put a lot of pressure on us at the beginning. But tomorrow is a new day. A new game, and we have to approach it like that.”
Weslaco was stymied by Edinburg ace Amber Reyes the first two innings. However, the experienced Lady Panthers started to chip away at Reyes little by little, and by the end of the third, they were up 3-0.
Edinburg came right back and scored one in the top of the fourth to chase off Weslaco starter Taylor Tafolla, who had given up six hits but no runs to that point. But Rodriguez inserted Sada, and she killed any hopes of an Edinburg rally in the fourth, and the rest of the game, for that matter.
But up just 3-1 after four, Weslaco’s lead was uncomfortable. After no runs in the fourth and an insurance run in the fifth, the Lady Panthers opened up in the sixth. Weslaco smacked four consecutive singles topped by two walks to score six runs and almost invoke the run rule, pushing the game’s score to 10-1 by the end of the frame.
“We are always being loud. We are always trying to get into their (opposing pitchers) heads, but you know once we get one hit and then we get another, we know that really gets to them,” Escamilla said. “We feel good. We feel confident, but not overconfident. Tomorrow is going to be another great game, and I know they are going to be ready to bring it. The Bobcats have a lot of fight in them. I’ve been playing with them for a while, so I know what they are capable of.”
The Lady Panthers, who won their 14th game in row, notched their 10 runs on 12 hits. Neither team had an error. Edinburg’s No. 2 pitcher this season, Dezi Marmolejo, pitched the final five outs while going 2 for 3 at the plate.