KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
The Lyford Lady Bulldogs continued their hot 2019 start Tuesday when they blew past Brownsville Rivera 18-3.
The win was the 20th of the season for the undefeated Lady Bulldogs.
Against Rivera, Lyford racked up 18 runs on 18 hits. Hannah Garza, Hailey Pena, Tiffany Alaniz and Leilani collected three hits each in the win. Lyford’s offense erupted for an eight-run second inning, followed by a six-run third inning.
“Our bats have been a big part of our success early on,” Lyford head coach Joey Rios said. “We will continue to keep doing the little things right and not get ahead of ourselves.”
The Lady Dogs will host Harlingen High on Monday before hitting the road Wednesday at San Diego, which will serve as their toughest test of the season.
Lyford will open up district play on March 22 when they host Monte Alto.
“We are blessed and excited about the direction of our season,” Rios said. “It has been a great preseason for us and we feel confident heading into our district schedule.”
LADY ’CATS PICK UP ROAD WIN
On Tuesday, the youngRio Hondo Lady Bobcats took a step forward with an 8-4 road win at rival Zapata. Rio Hondo is now 2-0 in district play and will host Raymondville on Friday at 7 p.m.
Despite the chilly temperatures Tuesday night, the Lady Bobcats offense came to play. Junior Nayeli Garcia led the offense with a 4-for-5 night at the plate.
Sophomore Domo De Jesus checked in a 3-for-4 night, fellow sophomore Kelsey Pizarro chipped in with a timely two-run double.
In the circle, senior Erika Cortez made her Rio Hondo debut and threw a complete game, striking out 16 Lady Hawks.
LADY CHARGERS SET TO MEET LADY TIGERS
Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Mercedes will lock horns Friday night in the latest chapter in what has become quite the primetime District 32-5A matchup.
The game is slated for 7 p.m. at Mercedes High School and will be for early season supremacy.
The Lady Chargers enter the week feeling confident after a 15-0 win over Donna High and are 2-0 in league play.
“We have had a great tournament run and have played some good teams,” said Brownsville Veterans coach Rayner Cardenas. “We have learned a lot in the games we have played in and the girls are up beat right now. I don’t think we have peaked yet but we are trending upwards, the hitting is there and the pitching and defense is solid.”
Last year, Brownsville Veterans swept Mercedes en route to an unbeaten district run. If the Lady Chargers want to keep that same mojo going, they will have to do it against Kassidie Rodriguez and the Lady Tigers.
Mercedes also comes in hot winning four straight and are also 2-0 in district play. On Tuesday, Mercedes picked up an 11-0 win over Porter.
The Lady Tigers will meet a familiar adversary in senior pitcher Mia Anzaldua. In their last two meetings Anzaldua has stymied the Lady Tigers, tossing a combined 14 innings while scattering nine hits, yielding two earned runs and whiffed 21 batters.
“If anything would favor us, it would be having Mia on our side,” Cardenas said. “She has the most experience. She has been in these games before and has played there in Mercedes before. She knows the expectations and nothing really rattles her. Pitching on both sides will be great but I’ll go with the experience and Mia has the experience.”