By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
CORPUS CHRISTI — Having been struck out by a high rise ball with bases loaded in the third inning, Jenny Guillen couldn’t resist the urge to take another crack at it.
The stakes were much higher, though, in the sixth inning, with Weslaco tied and Guillen down two strikes. But the junior third baseman squared up, nonetheless, and crushed a solo home run to left field, lifting the Lady Panthers to a 4-3 victory in Game 1 of their Region IV-6A final against New Braunfels Canyon on Friday.
Guillen finished 2-for-3 at the plate, including a run-scoring double during the second inning that broke a scoreless tie. No hit, however, was bigger than her fifth home run of the season, which puts Weslaco in position to reach the UIL state tournament with a win today.
“I I knew she was going to throw a rise ball, and I was ready for it,” Guillen said. “The pitch came inside, so I kept my hands high and just knocked it out.
“Her rise balls are pretty good. They were getting us. Our timing just wasn’t there. But after a while, we started catching on. And we thought if we could get her tired, we could get in her head and that’s what happened.”
Guillen’s homer capped a six-hit night for Weslaco (32-7), which resumes the best-of-three series at 11 a.m. today at Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi. Game 3, if necessary, will follow after 30 minutes.
Canyon pitcher Brooke Vestal denied Weslaco several offensive opportunities Friday. She struck out 10 batters, including one to close out each inning going into the sixth. Vestal retired Guillen in her second at-bat, with bases loaded, after Weslaco had scored two runs to tie the game, 3-3, in the bottom of the third.
That came after Vestal had walked two straight batters to load the bases and allow the Lady Panthers to walk in the tying run.
The next time up, however, Guillen made contact and watched the ball sail over the left-field wall.
“I was telling her, ‘Don’t swing for the high pitches. Don’t do it,’” teammate Taylor Tafolla said. “I saw it coming in and then — boom! — you see it go over, over and it was gone.
“That’s Jenny, though. She makes miracles.”
The go-ahead run helped atone for what was a costly top of the third inning for Weslaco. With a throwing error from shortstop to first, the Lady Panthers were unable to record their third out. That allowed Canyon (27-10) to get a runner in scoring position with Yasmin Perez up to bat. She proceeded to hit to shallow right, and Weslaco overthrew to third base, resulting in two runs for Canyon and a 3-1 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, Weslaco’s Charlene De Anda responded with a hit to center field, driving in Maddie Ybarra. And moments later, Vestal walked two batters, including Lauren De Anda intentionally, to load the bases and tie it for the Lady Panthers.
“These girls have been coming through all year,” Weslaco coach Mario Rodriguez said. “They’ve exceeded all our expectations. Even today, we kind of broke down defensively, but they gave themselves a chance.
“Take nothing away from Canyon. (Today’s) game is going to be a very tough game, but I think we stole one (Friday). And we have to continue working hard to close it.”
Though Weslaco allowed the same number of hits it totaled (six), it did not allow one through the final four innings. Tafolla retired 12 of 14 batters during the stretch, with two getting on base via errors.
“Taylor’s been pitching very good,” Guillen said. “She’s been hanging in there all season, coming back from turf toe. She’s just pitching strong, and our defense is playing well, too. And our bats, when they come through, they really come through.”