BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
MERCEDES — Brownsville Veterans moved into District 32-5A last year and made quite the impression. The Chargers went 14-0 to win the district title outright in 2017, as longtime district power Mercedes settled for second place. The Tigers went 12-2 in district play last season, and both of their losses came against the Chargers.
On Tuesday, Brownsville Veterans (10-9, 2-0) took advantage of Mercedes’ early miscues and proved more of the same might be on the way, winning 5-3 at Mercedes.
“When you play a quality team like this (Mercedes), it’s the little things that make the biggest difference in these games,” Brownsville Veterans coach Rayner Cardenas said. “We’re grateful that we were able to take advantage in this historic venue. It hurts if you’re the team that’s making them and helps if you’re the team that needs them.”
As the temperature dropped into the upper 50s, Brownsville Veterans junior pitcher Mia Anzaldua confused the Mercedes offense, allowing just two hits and striking out seven over her first five innings of work.
“I play softball year-round, and eventually you learn how to adapt,” Anzaldua said. “The weather has not been good these last few months, so it’s just something we block out. We don’t let it affect us at all. We battled through and came out strong.”
Mercedes coach Kristy Leal urged her players to jump on Anzaldua early in the game, but the pitcher struck out the side in the first inning.
“The team that makes the quickest adjustments are going to win the game. That’s just softball,” Leal said.
Anzaldua ran into some trouble in the sixth and seventh innings. The Tigers (9-7, 1-1) got on the board in the sixth thanks to back-to-back RBI singles by Sam Flores and Natalia Treviño. Mercedes scored its third run when Angelique Rangel reached on an error, allowing Kassidie Rodriguez to score from second base.
Cardenas said he didn’t think about taking Anzaldua out of the game.
“If we had made some of those plays, then we would have gotten out of the inning,” Cardenas said. “The mistakes in the field were more us than her. She pitched well. If we played clean, they don’t have a run on the scoreboard. I didn’t see a reason to take her out.”
“It shows that he (Cardenas) trusts me,” Anzaldua said. “He knew the defense would take care of it, and he knows that we’re tough. This is a pretty tough team to beat, too — one of the toughest in our district.”
Leal spoke glowingly of Rodriguez, her freshman pitcher, who went the full seven frames scattering five hits, four earned runs and three walks along with seven strikeouts and a hit batsman.
“She’s phenomenal,” Leal said. “We could put that kid against the No. 1 team in the state, and she’d bring her best stuff. The thing is our defense has to back her up. Had we not had that, the game would have been a totally different story.”