By MARK MOLINA|The Brownsville Herald
PORT ISABEL — Port Isabel freshman outfielder Allison Gonzalez didn’t take long to getting herself on the Lady Tarpons varsity softball team or making herself right at home.
Gonzalez found herself all over the field, playing where she was needed and turned out to be a key contributor for Port Isabel on its way to a third-place finish in District 32-4A and another playoff berth.
And for her efforts, Gonzalez has been named The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro Softball Newcomer of the Year.
The transition was ultimately an easy one for Gonzalez, who credits joining a team with three juniors and six seniors.
“My team helped me push myself to be the best that I can be,” she said. “With the training I have gotten, I feel very proud of myself. I’m proud of my family for pushing me in both academics and on the field. Also, thanks to my coaches for pushing me on and off the field.”
It also didn’t hurt that Gonzalez shared the outfield — where she played primarily — with her cousins, senior Olivia Soliz and junior Marlissa Martinez.
“My cousin Olivia is the captain of the outfield, so she helped keep me at ease,” Gonzalez said. “With all my cousins in the outfield, it was really a family, so I felt really at ease whenever I stepped out there.”
While Gonzalez played in the outfield primarily, she made starts at shortstop and as a pitcher, becoming a valuable asset for Lady Tarpons head coach Danno Wise.
“She entered softball season with people expecting a lot out of her and for a young player, that’s not easy to handle,” he said. “She started for us on Day 1 in left field and I put a lot of importance on our outfield play and it’s a stressful position to play. She was in our No. 3 spot of our lineup because of her average and power. She got starts at pitcher, short and left and handled it well.
“I think she did a great job handling expectations, moving around.”
Gonzalez began to come on more in the back half of the year and even started Game 2 of their bi-district playoff series with Rockport-Fulton at shortstop.
She ended the season with a .347 batting average, 33 RBIs and 27 runs scored in 88 at-bats. In the circle, she pitched 38 innings and struck out 41 batters.
Gonzalez also had a .925 fielding percentage on her way to being named the District 32-4A Co-Newcomer of the Year, sharing the honor with Rio Hondo’s Abbie Torris.
Playing multiple positions wasn’t a new experience for Gonzalez as she has played softball since age 9 and competes in travel ball.
The biggest shock came with how frequent she would move around.
“I have done a lot of outfield during travel ball season and this has been a change for me since I’m not used to facing a lot of high school girls,” she said. “Playing shortstop was a big jump for me because I’ve played infield, but not much. As far as pitching, I was scared at first, but I was eventually like ‘I got this.’”
Now that her first season is out of the way, Gonzalez says she is confident and ready to attack her sophomore season head on.
“It feels pretty good to see some of the girls I have played with and some of the new faces I will be seeing,” she said. “I want them to push me so I can push them and I hope we have a really good season this year. My confidence is at a point that I want to exceed and go high and higher until college.”