BY HENRY MILLER | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
WESLACO — Taylor Chavez had just driven a ball deep and foul.
“I have to take the next one yard,” she thought to herself.
She did exactly that on the ensuing pitch, a change-up that the Edinburg Vela shortstop blasted over the center field wall for her ninth home run of the season in the top of the eighth inning to lead the SaberCats to a 5-4 victory over Weslaco High in the first game of their Class 6A bi-district playoff series on Thursday.
“She was pitching change-ups all night, and I just waited on it,” Chavez said. “I didn’t’ know it was gone. I was running for my life. Then I heard everyone cheering and thought, ‘I can just jog now.’”
The two teams meet again in Game 2 of the best-of-three series at 8 p.m. today at Edinburg Vela.
Weslaco scored two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to tie the game and force extra innings. The Panthers’ final run came with the bases loaded, when Vela third baseman Alyssa Cedillo dropped a routine pop-up with two outs.
Chavez went over to Cedillo to console her after the play.
“I told her it’s OK, that we’ll get the next one,” Chavez recalled. “I still have to come up to bat.”
SaberCats pitcher Naomi Reyes had kept the Panthers off-balance for the first five innings, allowing just three hits, striking out five and not allowing a runner to get into scoring position. But Weslaco, just like Vela, has a high-octane offense, and the Panthers showed it in the sixth and seventh.
Weslaco scored a pair of runs on hits from Alyssa Escamilla, Charlene DeAnda and Audrey Escamilla and a sacrifice fly from Abby Luna to cut the lead in half.
“That was an up-and-down game, but Weslaco is a tough team, and this is going to be a tough series,” said Vela coach Jon Maples, whose team went 27-5 overall and 11-3 in District 31-6A to finish in second place. “We put up runs. They came back. A win is a win — gotta get ready for tomorrow night. It’s going to be a long series. It’s not over yet.”
Weslaco opened the seventh with four straight hits from Gabby Rivera, Lauren DeAnda, Jordan Diaz and Alyssa Escamilla to score one run and load the bases with no outs. Reyes then struck out Helen Gonzalez looking and forced Charlene DeAnda to pop out to second. The Panthers tied the game on the infield error before Reyes induced a groundout, setting the stage for Chavez, who ended up 3 for 4 on the night with the home run and three RBIs. Chavez garnered three of the SaberCats’ five hits on the night.
“Taylor has been hot all year,” said Maples, in his second year at the SaberCats’ helm. “In our district, people know who Taylor is. She’s a tough kid. Any swing is a winning swing, and I’ve trusted Taylor since day one. Anytime you need a big hit, she’s the girl I’ll call on. Her name is Vela.”
Vela scored its first run after a hit batsman, an error and a walk loaded the bases. Chavez singled to bring in Katherine Montero, but Gabriela Villarreal was thrown out at the plate. Maples argued the call with the home plate umpire, claiming she was tagged with just the glove rather than the ball.
Vela added two runs in the fourth with a single from Audrey Guerra, a fielder’s choice, hit batsman and a single from Amber Guerra. Their fourth run came in the fifth inning, with a leadoff double from Villarreal and run-scoring single from Chavez.
That’s when Weslaco made its run.
“We were just trying to hit the ball wherever she threw it,” Weslaco coach Mario Rodriguez said. “We hadn’t seen her before, but now we have, and everyone is just going to come in and try their best. Not too many times are we going to outhit an opponent and not win the game. The girls do a very good job of making adjustments.”
Weslaco outhit Edinburg 10-5.