BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — Weslaco High and PSJA North had already played 19 innings of softball against each other in the area round when the sixth inning began Friday.
Nothing separated the teams to that point. Not in the series or in the ballgame that had yet to put any runs on the scoreboard.
That’s when PSJA North starting pitcher Andrea Salazar went into another gear and helped the Raiders advance with a 2-0 win in Game 3 at North’s home field. North won the best-of-three series.
Her pitching performance only took a backseat to a clutch at-bat: a two-out triple that brought in the only two runs of the ultra-defensive contest.
After words of encouragement from her teammates and coaches prior to the at-bat, the senior adjusted and leaned on plenty years of softball experience.
With Jenna Fabela and Heaven Lozano on base, both with infield hits, Salazar found the gap between right and center. The ball rolled to the wall and allowed her to stand up at third.
“I crowded the plate a little bit more and this last at-bat I had two runners on base, and two down, and I knew my teammates needed me,” Salazar said. “I knew as soon as I hit the ball, I knew my teammates were going to score. As I got to third, I was just full of emotions, full of excitement.”
Salazar didn’t just bounce back from a rough relief outing in Game 2. She dominated in the circle.
The senior allowed just one hit and struck out seven Panthers.
Junior catcher Giselle Mendoza knew her pitcher would be fine.
“Andrea has been a really great player and every time they put her in the circle she does her job,” Mendoza said. “We lost the second game, so we had to adjust and remember what we were doing. It was really something else because they’re a really, good strong team.”
Both offenses threatened during the first inning.
Weslaco’s Lily Torres reached on a hit and advanced to second on a passed ball, but that chance ended with a flyout. North had a base runner, Katelyn Luera, reach all the way to third, but a ground out ended the first.
Up until the bottom of the sixth, that was the best chance for scoring on either side.
“We came out ready to play. We came out here focused and hungry,” Salazar said. “After last night’s game, we knew we were going to be OK. We always have that fight in us, even when we’re down, we come back.”
Pitching Battle
The pitching battle was not one-sided, however. Katia Reyes, who started all three games for the Panthers was on her game. One-two-three innings was her forte, as she moved through the lineup with relative ease.
Weslaco saw some of their key players reach base. Alongside the one hit three Panthers reached with errors, including both Audrey Escamilla and starting pitcher Reyes during the top seventh.
“I came in here (thinking), ‘You know what? Maybe they adjusted to my pitch, but I came here ready,” Salazar said. “I worked in the bullpen. I worked on my junk pitches.”
Reyes had seven strikeouts to finish the series with more than 20 in three nights.
Defensive gems were a common occurrence over the course of the second-round series. On Friday, there were noticeable plays from Merilen Chavarria for Weslaco, who made a running play in foul territory. Her teammate on first base, Lynn Garcia, also caught a foul ball to keep Reyes rolling.
North received a boost in momentum when right fielder Gizelle Gutierrez dove to catch a shallow fly ball.
Freshman Katelyn Luera also made a memorable diving grab during the top of the seventh. After selling out to make the catch, she fired the ball to first base to double up Weslaco’s Audrey Escamilla and end the game.
First-year North coach Stephanie Lugo said her team was calm in the low-scoring game. There was frustration in the batter’s box, but not nervousness, facing elimination.
“Nerves … we’ve been in this situation more than once. I think we put them under good situational defense here in practice to where they’re able to get through this things one at a time,” Lugo said.
The entire Raiders roster is experiencing the postseason for the first time.
“It means a lot,” Lugo said. “For our seniors, this is their first time they’ve been to playoffs, so it’s really big for them. Softball in general for this school it’s been since 2008, so it’s a big thing.”
North faces the winner of Harlingen South and Eagle Pass. Due to weather, that area round matchup switched from a three-game series set to start Friday in Sinton to a one-game playoff scheduled for 6 today at Cabaniss Complex in Corpus Christi.