BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
MERCEDES — Both teams did not know it at the time, but the first inning set the tone in another meeting between two of the Valley’s fiercest rivals: Edcouch-Elsa and Mercedes.
The Tigers took advantage of their early chances while the Yellow Jackets could not cash in enough to keep up. Mercedes defeated Edcouch-Elsa 6-1 in a District 32-5A meeting Tuesday at Betty C. Morrell Softball Field.
“Our game plan was to take a lot of pitches and see balls. I think we did a good job of that,” Mercedes coach Kristy Leal said. “We hit the ball very well with a lot of hard hits that made them put the pressure on their defense.”
The biggest hit of the night came from sophomore Reeana De La Torre with two outs during the first inning. As the Tigers trailed 1-0, De La Torre laced a bases-clearing double off E-E starter Ocean Gomez into the left center-field gap to make it 3-1 Mercedes.
The inning ended with De La Torre tried to stretch her double into a triple.
“I was expecting her to throw an outside pitch because that’s what she threw the last time we played them,” De La Torre said. “This time, she threw one inside but we also noticed that she was throwing inside with our bigger hitters. I was just preparing for both pitches. I’m naturally better with inside pitches, so it was easy for me to take advantage with that pitch.”
De La Torre’s clutch hit reminded Leal of how she did as a freshman during last season’s playoff series against Corpus Christi Flour Bluff.
“We brought her up last year and she got two hits for us,” Leal said. “I knew that she was ready to go. She sees the ball well. When she makes contact, she makes good contact. She hits the ball hard.”
Mercedes (18-9-1, 9-2) starting pitcher Mika Vento was shaky to start the game. Edcouch-Elsa’s first three hitters reached base with no one out, but the Yellow Jackets (19-9, 8-3) could only manufacture one run in the frame.
“I think that’s what been happening all year. We’ve been getting people on base and moving them over. Now it just comes down to getting clutch hits,” Edcouch-Elsa coach Ruth Flores said. “Mercedes came up with some clutch hits. We left people on base and made too many errors tonight. That’s very uncharacteristic for us, but that was because Mercedes kept putting the ball in play.”
Following the first inning, Vento allowed only two more hits, walked one batter and struck out seven more Yellow Jackets to end the game.
“Mika pitched a heck of a game in the circle,” Leal said. “She progressed until she was lights out towards the end of the game. She’s a force in there. She’s scary once you see her in the circle. She played her part today and got it done for us.”
The Tigers have now moved into sole possession of second place in District 32-5A behind Brownsville Veterans, which has won all 11 of its district games. The third-place Yellow Jackets still have a two-game lead on fourth-place Brownsville Lopez in the standings.