KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
SAN BENITO—Senior pitcher Nana Carrizales felt a little extra emotions heading into her district opener against Harlingen High.
The hard-throwing righty didn’t take long to shake of the nerves as she twirled a complete game, yielding two hits, one run and fanned 11 batters.
Along with Carrizales came the timely hitting as freshman Jaylen Huerta broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning on a solo homer, sparking the San Benito offense en route to a 5-1 win against the Lady Cardinals.
“I was anxious to get out here and I was a little nervous,” Carrizales said. “This is my first last district game, but once I got in the circle, I was ready and I knew I needed to just pitch my game and to not let them hit. Tonight I felt I was as sharp as I have been all year.”
Carrizales pitched with mastery and pumped in strikes constantly. She started the night by striking out the first five batters she faced, with the sixth resulting in a pop up. In the next frame, she struck out the side in order.
“Tonight, (Carrizales) came out powerful and moved the ball well and hitting her spots and that is always good for a pitcher,” said San Benito skipper Denise Lira. “She stayed focused even when she had some tough at bats and they worked the count and she was able to pitch through it and her defense worked behind her.”
The bid for a perfect game was broken up in the top of the fifth inning on a one-out base hit from Andrea Salinas. The only other blemish came in the seventh inning when Harlingen High’s Chloe Gracida swatted a solo home run, spoiling the bid for a shutout.
“My arm feels great; I was throwing hard and I wasn’t thinking about the no-hitter,” Carrizales said. “That one homerun I gave up, it was just a missed spot on my part.”
On the flip side, sophomore hurler Audrie Sayas went toe-to-toe with Carrizales.
The youngster kept the Lady ’Hounds at bay until giving up the solo homer to Huerta in the fourth inning.
The Lady ’Hounds managed to add a run off an error to push their lead 2-0 through five innings.
In the sixth inning, San Benito plated three more runs, highlighted by an RBI double from Sarah Garcia and later, Huerta chipped in with an RBI single.
“Tonight my approach at the plate was simple and it was to help my team,” Huerta said. “Whatever it took, I was willing to do it. When I hit the homer, it felt really good. My first at bat was a walk, so I was looking to make contact in my next at bat.”
Huerta finished the night going 3-for-3 with two RBI’s. Garcia finished 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI, while Katelyn Garza finished 2-for-2 at the plate with an RBI.
“We just made some mistakes that cost us some runs,” said interim Harlingen High Priscilla Serna. “We didn’t hit the ball tonight and that was our problem. We didn’t execute and we need to be able to get that done, but those mistakes gave San Benito some momentum.”
With the two-day weather delays, both clubs will quickly shift their focus to tonight. Harlingen will meet Los Fresnos, while San Benito will travel to Harlingen South. Both games are slated for 6:30 p.m.