BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — Edinburg High and Edinburg North entered Friday night’s game as two of eight Valley teams with 20 or more wins, and with the District 31-6A title still up for grabs. The teams were separated by one game in the district standings with three games to play. When this week’s rainfall left Edinburg North’s outfield a muddy problem, the highly-anticipated game was pushed back a day, from Thursday to Friday.
The lone softball game in the Valley on Friday didn’t disappoint, as Edinburg High swept the season series from Edinburg North with a 3-1 win in eight innings.
“We got off to a slow start,” Edinburg High coach Ramon Arciba said. “We were way ahead of pitches, pulling everything to third base. But we prepared them for these types of games. If we have tough games against our opponents down here in the Valley, and we win those games, it’s going to help us when we get into the playoffs.”
In the bottom of the first, the Lady Cougars struck first. Jackie Longoria led off the inning with a base hit and came around to score when cleanup hitter Hope Rodriguez drove her in with a single of her own. After North’s first-inning run, both clubs had chances to bring runners home but could not, mostly due to stellar pitching on both ends. Longoria began with five shutout innings, while Edinburg High’s Amber Reyes rebounded from the first inning to pitch four hitless frames heading into the sixth.
The Lady Bobcats got on the board in the sixth. With runners at second and third and one down, five-hitter Kristee Salas hit a fly ball to right that was caught for an out. When the ball was thrown in to second base, no one covered the bag. That allowed catcher Anngie Salinas to score from third, tying the game at 1. Edinburg North’s chance to answer came in the bottom half of the inning. After two singles put Natalie and Hope Rodriguez on the corners with one out, Carolina Garcia struck out, and Maria Garza lined out to end the threat.
“We didn’t score runs when we had the opportunity,” Edinburg North coach Richard Tressler said. “That’s our fault, and that’s the bottom line.”
Edinburg High kept applying pressure on Longoria, who went from a stellar outing to showing signs of fatigue. During innings five through seven, she allowed five hits and the game-tying run.
In the eighth, the Lady Bobcats put runners on second and third with one out. Rebecca Delgado came to the plate with instructions to lay down a bunt good enough to bring a runner home.
“The first time didn’t go too well, but the second time, I knew how to lay it down,” Delgado said. “It was for the team. It wasn’t just for me. It was for everybody.”
Delgado’s sacrifice bunt scored Salinas to give EHS a 2-1 lead. Kayla Contreras followed with an RBI single for the Lady Bobcats’ two-run lead. The win for Edinburg High clinches at least a share of the District 31-6A title. A win against either PSJA Southwest on Tuesday or PSJA North next Friday would mean a district championship outright for first-year coach Arciba.
“Our goal was to do the little things in order to get the big things,” Arciba said. “We’ve taken it one game at a time. I’m glad that we are at least in a position to get a share of the district title. But we don’t want to share with anybody. We want to go out, finish the season strong and get the last two wins so we can clinch that title all on our own.”