HENRY MILLER | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
WESLACO — The Edinburg Vela SaberCats left their school to go to the ballpark a little later than normal for Saturday’s third and deciding game of their Class 6A bi-district matchup against Weslaco High.
“Looks like two hours of extra treatment really works,” Vela coach Jon Maples said. “We left Edinburg late, got here on time, and the girls felt good.”
Cleanup hitter Audrey Guerra hit her first home run of the season, Taylor Chavez hit her 10th of the season — and second of the series — and pitcher Naomi Reyes allowed just five hits as Vela scored in every inning but the first en route to a 9-1 victory. Vela advances to the area round of the playoffs to face Laredo Alexander.
Reyes, a Division I signee with Texas Southern University, gave up her only run in the first. Weslaco’s Alyssa Escamilla singled, advanced to second on a fielder’s choice and moved to third on a passed ball before Abby Luna drove her home with a single.
After that, it was all Vela. Reyes retired 13 straight batters from the second inning through the first out in the sixth.
The Panthers had gotten to Reyes in the late innings during the series’ previous two games, scoring four runs in the sixth and seventh inning in Game 1 and then scoring four off her in the seventh in Game 2.
She wasn’t planning on letting that happen again, even though Weslaco loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth. Instead, Reyes struck out Amberly Barrera to end the sixth. She also started the seventh with back-to-back strikeouts.
“She’s just a battler – that’s how she is,” Maples said. “That’s what you get from a D-I player.”
“The girls scored more runs and were hitting and gave me more of a cushion, so I was relaxed,” said Reyes, who struck out six in the complete-game win. “I could play with the hitters a little more, and I just relaxed. I was freer to throw my change-up and mix my pitches.”
Reyes said she hadn’t thrown games on three straight days “in a while.”
“I didn’t even know if I was going to do this game, because I was so exhausted,” she said. “But the girls were hitting, and we pulled through.”
Chavez once again was the offensive star for Vela, driving in the go-ahead run with a double in the third, hitting a solo home run to lead off the fifth and adding a run-scoring double in the sixth.
Third baseman Alyssa Cedillo also drove in two runs in the fifth as Vela led 6-1 after five. Cedillo more than made up for an error Thursday that allowed Weslaco to tie Game 1 in the seventh inning. On Saturday, she recorded three assists and two putouts. Both putouts were highlight-reel catches, one over her shoulder in foul territory and the other crashing up against the backstop fence.
“Her defense is strong, and one of those things that I know is she’s perfect for the corner spot,” said Maples, who got a Gatorade bath after the game. “She goes after the ball and doesn’t care if she crashes into the fence. That’s her wanting the ball and wanting to win. We weren’t going to back down here.”
Weslaco ended its season at 28-7, while Vela improved to 29-6. The teams came into the series with identical 27-5 records.