BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — McAllen Rowe leadoff hitter Laurynn Garcia stepped up to the plate with runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Warriors had a two-run lead in the top half of the frame, but they committed two errors that allowed McAllen Memorial to tie the game at six. Memorial’s Natalie Silva reached base when Rowe’s Deandra Hernandez booted a ground ball. The Mustangs had runners on second and third at the time, as well. Both players came home to score.
But Garcia laced an offering from McAllen Memorial pitcher Kayla Dow for a base hit to end the game. The Warriors slid past the Mustangs 7-6 on Tuesday night at home.
Garcia’s hit got some hang time before dropping in front of center fielder Adallas Ramirez.
“I didn’t know if it was a hit all the way. I just hoped it was,” Garcia said. “I was thinking, ‘Hit the ball and hope it works.’ I couldn’t strike out or hit it in the infield. If it went to the outfield, we’d have a better chance to score.”
“This was our last game of the first round of districts, so we’re going to use this momentum to take us into the next round,” McAllen Rowe coach Aissa Hinojosa said. “We work on these pressure situations in practice so we can deliver. Laurynn (Garcia) did a good job of executing in that situation. We need to carry this into our next games because we’ve got some big ones coming up.”
Garcia’s game-winning hit was the cherry on top of a strong showing from McAllen Rowe’s first four hitters in the lineup.
Garcia finished 3 for 4 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Destiny Menchaca, the Warriors’ No. 2 hitter, went 3 for 4 with two runs scored and a run batted in.
No. 3 hitter Ziomara Jasso drove in four of McAllen Rowe’s first five runs of the game. Cleanup hitter Ashley Barreiro’s RBI groundout put the Warriors ahead, 6-4, in the fourth inning.
“Our top four hitters are strong, because we know the game, but it’s not just the top four girls,” Garcia said. “If one of us knows something, we tell the other girls so that everyone knows.”
“We had to make adjustments in the lineup to allow these situations to happen,” Hinojosa said. “Laurynn doesn’t get to do that unless the bottom of my lineup gets on base. My seventh and eighth hitters got on base, which was huge. For Laurynn to have that opportunity they had to do their jobs, and they did.”
The Warriors’ win creates a logjam at the halfway point of district play. McAllen Rowe (12-12) and McAllen Memorial (12-11) are now tied for third place at 4-3 in District 30-6A. The Warriors and Mustangs are the only ones there, because La Joya High defeated Mission High on Tuesday to place the Coyotes at 4-3 as well.
“We have to regroup from this game and get ready for tomorrow because all this loss does it make in messy in 30-6A,” McAllen Memorial coach Audra Benavidez said. “Those playoff spots are up for grabs and we have to keep working hard. We’ve got to buckle down and make plays on defense.”