SAN BENITO — District 32-6A leaders San Benito kept their unblemished district record intact Tuesday night. Behind star pitcher Crystal Castillo, the Lady Greyhounds cruised to a 7-0 victory over the Brownsville Hanna Lady Golden Eagles.
“Crystal is pitching phenomenally,” said San Benito head coach Elias Martinez. “It’s like the song says ‘this girl is on fire’ and she is on fire. We’re playing well and our bats are coming.
“I’m very pleased with our performance right now and we have a very big game coming up against Los Fresnos and like I tell the girls you take one game at a time and that’s our approach.”
San Benito’s ace pitcher Castillo had a stellar outing with a total of 14 strikeouts. The standout senior also put some work in on the offensive side when in the sixth inning she homered on a 1-2 count to put a cap on an unforgettable night. Castillo retired the sides twice, once in the second and another to finish off the night in the seventh.
In the bottom of the third an errand throw from Hanna’s pitcher to third allowed shortstop J’vana Gonzalez and catcher Kimberly Harper to open the scoring for the Lady Greyhounds. However San Benito was not done scoring as right fielder Joanna Gonzalez’s RBI brought in Melanie Gonzalez to put the Lady ‘Hounds up by three heading into the fourth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth with a runner on first, Melanie Gonzalez had an RBI that brought in Harper screeching in from second base. The Lady Greyhounds would score two more runs before Brownsville Hanna third baseman Sammy Ibarra made a phenomenal diving catch to bring the inning to a close.
San Benito (16-1, 8-0 overall) had a chance to extend its lead in the bottom of the sixth, however Ali Huerta popped out to center field leaving the bases loaded.
“We put the ball in play and if you put the ball in play good things will happen,” said Martinez. “Juliette (Gonzales, Brownsville Hanna pitcher) throws hard so we worked on our short compact swings.
“This is the first game of the second half and right now we’re 1-0. Like I told the girls, the first half is over so forget the first half, the second half is the one that takes us home.”