BY TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
SAN JUAN — PSJA’s bats came to life late and the Lady Bears overcame a slew of miscues to defeat Edinburg Vela 6-4 Thursday night to take a 1-0 playoff series lead.
The Bears, who dealt Vela just its second loss in two months, fell behind early but battled back and rallied for the lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Down 4-3, PSJA posted two quick outs. However, the next two batters walked and then the next three smacked singles, driving in three runs to give the game its final score.
“That’s our story. Sadly, yes, that (falling behind) is our story,” said a smiling Elaine Madera who hit the first single in the sixth-inning rally. “We stayed strong. We stayed together and we just kept it up. We lifted ourselves back up.”
PSJA’s lift puts the onus on Vela to win two straight if it wants to advance to the next round. Certainly, Vela did not play bad, however, the SaberCats committed a couple of errors and couldn’t get timely hits to stave off PSJA.
Madera, who also pitched a complete game for the Lady Bears, retired the final seven batters Vela brought to plate in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Meanwhile, Madera allowed just four runs (three earned) and five hits while striking out two and stranding five.
In addition to Madera, also picking up two hits each were Vivika Villarreal, Ariella Saenz, Kaylah Hernandez and Roxanna Garza. The Bears totaled 10 hits.
PSJA was caught stealing four times and had two errors in the field.
Coach Eric Madera said he expects a big battle (Friday) and understands that Vela is a very good team. He said the Bears will need to bring the same fight if they expect to win. Game 2 will be at 7 p.m. todat at Edinburg Vela.
That might not be the only challenge for PSJA, or Vela for that matter. Heavy rain is expected Friday in the Rio Grande Valley.
Monee Montilla went 2 for 2 for Vela with a double, a triple and three RBIs.