BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
LA JOYA — The biggest scare of Edinburg Vela’s weekend came Friday afternoon.
The SaberCats trailed Mission Veterans by a run and were down to their last out of the game. The Patriots muffed what should have been a routine, game-ending play. The error extended the game, allowing Edinburg Vela to come back and win.
Edinburg Vela entered its sixth and final game of the La Joya tournament Saturday with a perfect five wins in five games during the weekend, but closing out McAllen Rowe was far from a guarantee.
The Warriors got to SaberCat starting pitcher Felisha Guzman, tagging the sophomore with six of their eight runs in the second inning. The seasoned SaberCats were not deterred, stringing together 12 unanswered runs to down the young Warriors 17-8 on Saturday evening.
Edinburg Vela (12-1) won all six of its matchups at the three-day tournament in La Joya.
“At this point last year, we were rolling,” Edinburg Vela coach Jon Maples said. “We were completely healthy. That’s the one huge difference. Right now, we’re banged up. We’ve yet to play a game where we had all 16 girls healthy.”
Guzman only made it through 1 1/3 innings and was replaced by Brianna Salinas out of the bullpen.
Salinas, a sophomore herself, recorded an inning and two-thirds without a run or hit. She walked one batter and struck out three Warrior batters to earn the win in the circle.
“I had to come in and hit my spots,” Salinas said. “I missed on a couple pitches, but it was OK since I hit others.”
“The sophomores have come in and done well,” Maples said. “We had a different lineup in this last game (against McAllen Rowe). Our first baseman Monee (Montilla) hit the ball well and had some great defensive plays. We wanted to rest some of our seniors, but even if we make a change in the lineup, there’s no let up. Our level of play is just as high with our younger players. That’s what we’ve set here at (Edinburg) Vela.”
At the plate, Salinas recorded three hits and scored twice.
“I’ve learned a lot from our seniors already,” Salinas said. “I know it’s good for me to be up in the lineup with them. I can still get better as a player, but it’s good to know that I’m helping the team out.”
McAllen Rowe (4-6) took the lead on an RBI double from sophomore Ziomara Jasso. Pitcher Gabriela Garza brought Jasso home on a two-run shot to put the Warriors up 8-5 in the second inning.
“We had a tough loss earlier in the week to (Edinburg) Vela, so I wanted the girls to come out and compete today and they did,” McAllen Rowe coach Aissa Hinojosa said. “I was looking for the girls to be strong offensively and they came out with stronger bats. Our team knows the goals that they have for them and they know what they need to do to accomplish those goals.”