BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — Last season, McAllen Rowe finished below the .500 mark and missed out on the postseason for the first time in the four years since Ozzy Hernandez became the head coach of the program in 2014.
Behind the Warriors’ fifth-place finish in District 30-6A was an inexperienced roster. Coming into this season, the Warriors are slightly older than last year’s team, but not by much.
“We’re still young, but I think the girls have grown up,” Hernandez said. “We had mainly freshmen girls last year, and now those girls are sophomores. One year can make a difference, and with these girls, it has made all the difference.”
Valerie Gallardo is one of Hernandez’s emerging sophomores. Hernandez singled out Gallardo, his starting shortstop, as one of the leaders on his team.
“Last year, the seniors were in charge, and this year’s seniors aren’t really like that,” Gallardo said. “I felt like it was my responsibility to lead this team if my teammates let me, and they have. As long as they’re with me, I’m with them.”
“She’s a natural leader,” Hernandez said. “The girls follow her, and they want to do what she does, because she’s talented, and she’s all about the game. Being a leader doesn’t always have to do with how much you talk, but she’s taken a more active role in that sense. If we’re going through an inning and we have one or two bad plays, she’ll call the girls together in the circle to talk. I noticed her doing that in our game against (Edinburg) Vela, and I made it a point to point it out to her after the game.”
As is the case with many of her teammates, Gallardo’s numbers have made a jump from her freshman season in 2017. She is currently batting .500 — 150 points higher than her average a year ago — with a team-leading 15 runs plus three doubles, a home run, four runs batted in and five stolen bases.
Gallardo’s five steals this season are down from a perfect 16 for 16 stolen bases in 2017, but there’s a reason why.
“Our hitter after me, (freshman Ziomara Jasso), sees a first-pitch strike and rips it, so I have almost no chance at stealing bases,” Gallardo said. “I can’t really steal bases anymore, but it’s good, because she brings me in to score.”
Gallardo has demonstrated strong plate discipline since arriving at Rowe, but the trait is hardly a rarity on her team. She sports a .571 on-base percentage, which is fourth-best among Rowe’s starters, and has only struck out once in 35 plate appearances this season.
“We had to get her to see that even though she may face a two-strike count, she can’t let the umpire call her out on a third strike looking,” Hernandez said. “She’s learned to battle through at-bats. We’ve slapped hit with her, drag bunted and can hit from both sides of the plate. She’s been more aggressive and patient this year to find a good pitch to hit.”
The most obvious sign of McAllen Rowe’s improvement is in the win column. The Warriors won 11 games in 2017 but now stand at 10-7-1 — one win away from tying last season’s win total with 11 district games to play.
“We have a talented group,” Hernandez said. “We’ve had some really good girls come through our program, and this year is no different. My biggest concern coming in was, ‘Can we let things go? Can we grow from what we were last year?’ I don’t like to compare one year’s team to another, because I want them to focus on the here and now. Let’s control what we can control and move on to the next play or next game.”
With teammates like the freshman Jasso and senior Anahi De Ochoa, Gallardo envisions Rowe will be a force to be reckoned with sooner rather than later. Jasso is batting .625 with a home run and a team-high 11 runs batted in, while De Ochoa is hitting .583 with the most extra base-hits on the club (seven) and eight runs driven in.
“Our goal was to win a tournament, but we finished second at the Brownsville tournament,” Gallardo said. “Now our goal has shifted to winning the district championship. I believe we can do that.”