By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
ELSA — At several points throughout the season, Edcouch-Elsa has had the odds stacked against it.
They fielded five freshmen. They got off to a 3-5 start. And they needed an additional play-in game just to pick up the fourth seed in District 32-5A and stay in line with their near-decade-long tradition of making the playoffs.
And all that did, in the end, was pit yet another obstacle in the Lady Yellowjackets’ path in the form of a first-round series against Edinburg Vela, a team that had endured only one loss all year.
“Going into that series, Coach (Joey Palacios) knew we were underdogs,” senior Dani Rivera said. “But he told us how much he believed in us and he knew all the hard work would pay off, and it did.”
Now, E-E finds itself in an unlikely position, considering the circumstances this season, with an area-round battle against Corpus Christi Flour Bluff beginning Friday at home.
The Lady Yellowjackets (19-9) did it by rallying in the second half of the season to qualify for the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 years, and sweeping an Edinburg Vela team that entered the postseason at 22-1 overall before E-E swept them.
It happened despite their inexperience, though Rivera, the only senior on the team, makes no excuses.
“It was a young team but we realized there was no such thing as a freshman on varsity,” she said. “You’re a varsity player (regardless of class).”
They did it with Rivera playing a multitude of positions. On any given day, she would play either second base, shortstop or centerfield — the latter a result of Jackie Alvarado being sidelined after suffering a concussion.
And they surged ahead with Sarah Rodriguez as the full-time starter, flanked by a formidable defense.
“The girls feed off of her,” Palacios said. “She’s a fighter. If someone makes a mistake, she’s not going to say you made an error. She’s just going to get back in the pitcher’s circle. She finds ways to get it done.”
It was Rodriguez’s pitching in both games, and the team’s defense as a whole, that helped the Lady Yellowjackets pull out a 4-2 extra-innings win against Vela in Game 1 before closing out the series the following day with a 2-1 victory.
“It was unbelievable,” Rodriguez said about her team’s bi-district victory. “I’m so proud of that because we knew we had the ability to beat all these teams.
“Coach said we just had to keep fighting. He believes in us. He’s always believed in us.”
The two have contributed in immeasurable ways. Rivera, who Palacios describes as being soft-spoken, provides the leadership, and Rodriguez with her versatility.
“Any time coaches have kids participate in sports, you’re always looking for the 1-2-3 kids that can supply leadership, and (Rivera has) been the one to do that. The girls elected her captain at the beginning of the year. We have other kids that can step up, but for the most part, she’s been the mainstay and the overall success we’ve had is because of the leadership role.”
Aside from leading a four-pitcher staff, Rodriguez has also come up big as the leadoff hitter. At the start of the year, Palacios warned the junior about the weight of responsibility falling on her shoulders in both aspects of the game, and Rodriguez has taken it in stride.
She’s also added five or six pitches to her arsenal, helping her throw in all but two games this season.
“She’s having fun because she knows she has a good defense behind her,” Palacios said. “That helps. Once she knew she was going to be in the circle for the most part this year, she started working her tail off, and she’s been focused ever since.”
Heading into the area round now, Palacios believes his team “can keep up with anyone,” especially considering the leaps the Lady Yellowjackets taken recently.
“If they continue to play the way we have with the clutch hitting and our pitcher doing a great job, hopefully we can keep up this momentum. They’re not ready to check in their equipment yet. They want to keep playing.”