By MARK MOLINA, STAFF WRITER
The simple fact that the Lopez Lady Lobos and the Edcouch Elsa Lady Yellow Jackets needed to play a third game to decide seeding was no surprise after each had taken a game on the other’s home field during district play.
So the rubber match needing extras was only fitting.
After shutting the door on a potential Lady Lobo walk-off in the bottom of the seventh, the Lady Jacket bats came alive in the top of the eighth to the tune of three consecutive doubles and four runs, lifting them to a 9-5 win Monday night at Lopez High School.
After erasing a 3-0 deficit in the bottom of the sixth and then tying the game up again in the bottom of the seventh, Lopez saw third baseman Alex Castro get caught in a run down between third and home with a chance to win the game.
Castro was eventually caught and the game went into extras with the wind taken out of the Lady Lobo sails.
“We struggled a little bit and we had the game there in the seventh inning — it was ours,” Lopez head coach Jesse Martinez said. “It was just some poor execution on the bases. We do our job on the bases and do what we’re supposed to do and this game is ours. We made some mistakes and we paid for it. It’s tough to come back from three runs back and to stay on top.
“It was mentally exhausting for all of us and we could’ve done better, but (Edcouch Elsa) came out and swung the bat — they’re good hitting team.”
For Edcouch Elsa head coach Ruth Flores, her team execute after being on the ropes is something she hopes they take into bi-district.
“It was a heck of a game and Lopez is a good team and we just told our girls not to give up,” Flores said. “This is playoff softball for us. They came through, they didn’t give up, they believed in each other, stuck together and hopefully it continues.”
The win makes Edcouch Elsa the outright third seed coming out of District 32-5A, while Lopez drops to fourth. Edcouch Elsa now will face Rio Grande City out of District 31-5A in bi-district, while Lopez draws district champion Sharyland Pioneer.
In the bottom of the sixth Lopez loaded the bases with two outs down 3-0 after Edocouch Elsa short stop Odessa Mata committed her second fielding error of the inning.
Lopez’s Savannah Shank doubled to deep center moments later, allowing three runners to come in to tie the game at 3-3.
Yazmin Martinez gave Lopez the lead shortly after with an RBI double to deep right-center field, bringing in Shank.
In the top of the seventh the Lopez infield couldn’t handle the pop up from Edcouch Elsa’s Jozlyn Lara, allowing her to get on base. Then, an errant Lopez throw to second base sailed deep into the outfield, allowing Lady Jacket Allyson Rodriguez to come home and tie the game up at 4-4.
The Lady Jackets took the lead back after Samantha Montelongo grounded out, allowing another run to score and put them up 5-4 heading to the bottom of the seventh.
Lopez’s Lexi Castro tied the game up at 5-5 after crossing the plate following a pair of Edcouch Elsa errors in the bottom of the seventh with one out, but the Lady Lobos wouldn’t score again as Alex Castro was caught in a run down and Leslie Solis struck out, ending the inning.
Back-to-back-to-back doubles from Lady Jackets’ Jackie Alvarado, Rodriguez and Lara each brought in a runs in the top of the eighth to put them in front 8-5. A sac ground out brought in another insurance run for the Lady Jackets.
Lopez put two runners on base in the bottom eighth but couldn’t bring them in.
Up until the bottom of the sixth, just three runs were scored, all three by the Lady Jackets.
Over the final 2 1/2 innings, a combined 11 were scored between the two teams.
In all, Lopez left nine runners stranded, including four in the final two innings.
Edcouch Elsa netted 11 hits off of Lopez starter Kassi Rubio. Lady Jacket starter Lara tossed five scoreless inning and allowed six hits and no earned runs in six innings of work before giving way to Alvarado in the bottom of the seventh.