By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons prevailed 22-18 in a District 32-6A thriller against the Harlingen Lady Cardinals on Thursday.
With the wind at the batter’s back, balls sailed constantly out of the park as the teams exploded offensively.
“The girls did a darn good job fighting adversity,” Los Fresnos coach Jesus Garza said. “Both teams were hitting, that wind was pushing balls out even more, it was just crazy. They did a good job fighting back, never slowing down and never letting up.”
Los Fresnos senior Natasha Gonzalez hit her second home run of the day during the top of the fifth inning to put the Lady Falcons ahead 18-17. They did not give up the lead again.
“It was an explosive game,” Lady Cards coach Kevin Ledesma said. “It shows the power that they have and that we have as well as the explosiveness of 32-6A.”
Los Fresnos seniors Victoria Altamirano and Gonzalez hit back-to-back home runs during the first inning.
Harlingen High’s Lilly Rocha tied the game at 6 in the bottom of the second inning with a three-run home run.
The Lady Falcons put up eight runs in the top of the third inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by Krystal Perez.
The Lady Cardinals responded in the bottom of the third with a solo shot from Madison Vargas, and took the lead with a nine-run bottom of the fourth. Harlingen High hit through the lineup and catcher Jaymie Gonzales gave her team a 17-14 lead with a two-run home run.
“We rebounded from San Benito,” Ledesma said. “We did not have any fight in that game. We worked really hard on Wednesday about seeing the ball, and I think the girls really did that today. It is a game that could have gone either way.”
No lead was safe in the game, but the Lady Falcons’ defense prevailed in the bottom of the seventh with a double-play to end the game.
“We did struggle a little bit,” Lady Falcons senior Andrea Guevara said. “No matter the mistakes, we always fight and we did that this game. It was an intense game, I was a little nervous. All of us are great players, from both teams, and at the end we fought.”