GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — After watching Game 2 slip away in the bottom of the seventh on a walk-off triple, PSJA Memorial’s Amanda Aguilera rallied her teammates. She had just 30 minutes to help them regroup for Game 3 of their Class 6A area round series against McAllen High.
“She pumped up the team,” PSJA Memorial coach Gilberto Rodriguez said. “She talked to the girls and she told them, ‘I don’t want to end here. I want to keep on going. This is my legacy, and let’s make a run for it. Why not us?’”
Aguilera’s teammates backed her up, but she hardly needed it. Memorial’s No. 2 pitcher was nothing short of dominant in Game 3, throwing seven shutout innings to propel PSJA Memorial into the regional quarterfinals with an 8-0 win.
The Lady Wolverines, the No. 4 seed in District 31-6A making the first playoff appearance in program history, will face Edinburg North next week.
“Our confidence is through the roof,” Aguilera said. “I came in and told them not to take anybody for granted, and we pulled through.”
Aguilera allowed just two hits and two walks against 11 strikeouts. A senior, Aguilera has carved out a role as Memorial’s second pitcher, alternating starts with ace Ashley Castillo during the district season.
With Castillo tired after pitching all of Games 1 and 2 in considerable heat, Rodriguez had no hesitation handing the ball to Aguilera for Game 3.
“She did everything she could. She excelled. She put the whole team on her shoulders, and we went with her,” Rodriguez said. “She mixed it up. She didn’t care if they hit it or not — she knew the defense was going to be there for her.”
Aguilera came in fresh and throwing a different pace than Castillo. She said she leaned on her changeup on Saturday. The pitch was the main reason she said she racked up far more strikeouts than she typically does.
“Everything was working for me,” Aguilera said. “This is one of the best games I’ve pitched all year. This was my last chance. It was win or go home, so I knew I had to step up for my team.”
The Lady Wolverines found offense up and down the lineup in Game 3, as every starter reached base, six players scored and five had RBI.
Dominique Cantu was Memorial’s top performer on offense, going 5 for 7 with two runs and two RBI across Saturday’s two games. Maldonado led the team with four RBI, and Aguilera topped the Lady Wolverines with three runs scored.
Rodriguez said the key to producing offense was being more selective at the plate.
“They came alive when we needed them the most,” Rodriguez said.
The Lady Wolverines looked ready to close out a sweep in Game 2, taking a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. But after McHi’s Eden Hernandez singled home Alexis Gutierrez to make the score 4-3, Kassidy Neumann stepped to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second. Neumann, previously 0 for 3 on the day, smacked a bases-clearing triple to right-center field, lifting McHi to the win.
“I had some girls crying after the first game we lost today,” Rodriguez said. “And I said, ‘Hey, this is the playoffs. This happens. You can rebound back and win, and that’s it.’”
McAllen High coach Ruth Garcia said her team’s focus lingered on Game 2 rather than resetting for Game 3. She said the Lady Bulldogs “folded” under the heat, but she looked ahead to next season with optimism.
McAllen High graduates just three seniors.
“This is going to be a great lesson for them to understand that what we put into it is what we’re going to get out of it,” Garcia said. “Expectations are going to be high. The ears are going to be buzzing with McHi softball next year.”