MISSION — The San Benito Greyhounds steamrolled Mission High 19-2 in five innings in Game 1 of their Region IV-6A best-of-three bi-district playoff series Thursday at Mission High School.
The Greyhounds, the third-ranked team in the state according to the latest Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 6A poll, scored 19 runs across the first four innings and finished with 17 hits, eight walks and 10 stolen bases.
“Right now, everybody’s trying to set the tone for down the line. Right now, we won the game, but Mission is a quality ball club and we’re fortunate that we were able to jump on them quick,” San Benito head coach Elias Martinez said. “They made a comeback at the end there, but it was very important for us to come out and make a statement and hopefully come back (today) and finish it.”
The Greyhounds (31-3, 10-0) plated three runs in the first and four more in the second before exploding for nine during the top of the third. Amira Rodriguez capped off the scoring for San Benito with a three-run home run during the fourth.
“It was just about finding your pitch and swinging as hard as you can to bring in some runs,” she said.
Rodriguez and Jozanna Montes combined for five hits and had four RBIs each. Kylie Sanchez scored a team-high four runs to go with two hits and three RBIs. Emily Delgado and Bethany Aguilar drove in two RBIs apiece. Leila Lopez and Elyssa Ruvio both tagged the Eagles for three hits.
Delgado pitched a complete game for San Benito and kept Mission off the board for the first four innings. She finished with seven strikeouts in five innings and allowed no earned runs.
The Eagles prevented the shutout with RBIs from Jaydah Fraire and Samantha Rodriguez in the fifth.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday at San Benito High School. Game 3, if needed, will be played Saturday in San Benito at a time to be determined.
“This boosts our confidence and shows that we can go a long way in the playoffs,” Montes said.