SAN BENITO — San Benito’s bats were on fire again Wednesday night.
The Greyhounds have scored at least 10 runs or more in the last seven games, including Wednesday night’s 13-8 win over the Los Fresnos Falcons in a District 32-6A meeting at San Benito High School.
The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but the recent rains throughout the Rio Grande Valley forced teams off the wet diamonds for the day.
The infield did not really matter this game as both teams were content on smashing the ball out of the infield and out of the park.
Nine homers were hit in total, four by the Greyhounds and five by the Falcons, making it excellent game between two of the best teams in the state. San Benito is ranked third and Los Fresnos is ranked eighth in the latest Texas Girls Coaches Association’s Class 6A state poll.
“We have put a lot of work into our hitting,” San Benito’s senior standout Emily Delgado said. “We spend a lot of time in the cages, so when we get up there, it is nothing different. All of that work we do, it shows.”
Delgado had the first home run of the night, way back in the second inning. The last run scored by the Greyhounds was in the bottom of the fifth when Elyssa Ruvio drove in a run on a double to make it 13-5.
Los Fresnos had a strong day at the plate as well, but a late comeback attempt in the top of the seventh was not enough. Second baseman Ella Sulkazi hit her second home run of the night. Sulkazi’s two run shot was followed up by Fernanda Pulido’s solo shot to make it 13-8.
“I thought our girls showed a lot of fight,” Los Fresnos head coach Matt Molina said. “We were down big a couple of times, and they came back and fought every time. San Benito is one of the best teams in South Texas and we hung with them.”
A JoJo Montes two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning and a two-run homer by Bethany Aguilar in the bottom of the third helped the Greyhounds build a 13-5 lead after the Falcons put up five in the top of the third.
Falcons’ pitcher Kate Perez jump started the Falcons offense in the top of the third with a two-run homer, Dakota Martinez followed with a two-run home run also and Sulkazi picked up her first of the night with a solo shot to cut the Greyhounds lead to 7-5.
“We knew going in it was going to be a dog fight,” San Benito head coach Elias Martinez said. “It was, we jumped on them, and I told the girls they are not going to lay down – they are going to fight. It is a quality program over there and sure enough they came back. It was a great battle, something we anticipated and thank goodness we came out on top.”
Delgado’s three-run home run was followed up by a two-run bomb by Amira Rodriguez to put the Falcons up 7-0 in the second inning. Montes drove in two in the top of the first to give her four RBIs on the night.
“We are seeing the ball well right now,” Martinez said.
San Benito (24-3, 4-0) meets Weslaco High at Weslaco at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The Panthers are 3-1 in district. Los Fresnos (22-4, 3-1) looks to bounce back against Harlingen High at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Los Fresnos.