BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
LA JOYA — The top 40 softball seniors were selected to play in the annual East-West All-Star Game, but there was one player who proved once again that she is head and shoulders above the rest.
After Brownsville Veterans pitcher Cassie Valdez was named Softball Player of the Year during Tuesday’s All-Valley Sports Awards Banquet, she took the ball for the East All-Star team and rolled through the West lineup with little trouble. She allowed five hits, one run, struck out 11 batters and walked none in the East’s 7-1 win over the West.
“I don’t think it was the plan for me to pitch the whole game,” Valdez said. “Coach saw that I was on, so she decided to leave me out there to do my job.”
“Cassie is Cassie,” East coach Kristy Leal said. “I’m just glad I don’t have to play against her anymore at Mercedes. She’s a phenomenal player, offensively and defensively. I wanted her to be able to show her skills today.”
Valdez, who is signed to play softball at the University of Texas at San Antonio, also accounted for the East’s first RBI of the game. She doubled in a run in the first inning.
“It was a lot of fun to be around a bunch of girls who are very competitive and very talented,” Valdez said. “We didn’t spend a whole lot of time together but we really felt like a team out there.”
Shortstop Alyssa Escamilla started the game with two strikeouts in her first two at bats but she rebounded. Escamilla had two singles in her last two plate appearances, stole a base and scored a run.
The All-Star Game meant a little more to Escamilla, who represented Weslaco High. Like many Valley residents this week, Escamilla’s hometown was ravaged by heavy rains. Thursday’s unofficial totals from the National Weather Service suggest Weslaco dealt with approximately 11 to nearly 15 and a half inches of rain.
“Our family already planned to leave for Temple College around 5 o’clock in the morning Wednesday but we already saw cars were stranded out on the expressway,” Escamilla said. “We drove safely to a Stripes and didn’t move for five hours. It was tough to watch my town go down like that.
“Weslaco went through a lot this week. To hear the (PA announcer) say my number with my town felt like everyone had my back. We were together no matter where any of us were from.”
Flooding across the Mid- and Lower Valley caused Leal to shuffle around this week’s practice schedule.
“We had practice inside our gym at Mercedes on Tuesday and that was before everything was flooded,” Leal said. “Fortunately, we were able to get Weslaco High’s field ready for a practice on Friday. The kids showed up on Friday.”
In the Class 5A and 6A East-West Baseball Game in La Joya, the West squad asserted their dominance over the East in a 13-2 win. The West team scored early and often, putting the game out of reach with a four-run first inning and a three-run third inning. Edinburg Vela outfielder Aaron Galvan homered and was named Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Game.