FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer
LA FERIA — With the District 32-4A title already in hand, Rio Hondo’s Alexa Castellanos and Lulu Lopez each had two RBIs as the Lady Bobcats hung on for a 6-2 victory over the Lionettes on Friday night.
With the win, Rio Hondo improved to 24-6 overall and 12-0 in district action. Meanwhile, La Feria dropped to 12-7 overall and 6-6 in league play.
“La Feria has always played up tough here and they had a lot to lose tonight, so I knew they were going to come out and play and they did,” said Rio Hondo head coach Brett Esparza. “I was just glad we were able to get so key hit in some key situations to pull it out.”
After Tianna Sandoval put the Lady Bobcats up 2-0 in the top of the third inning, the Lionettes put the ball in play and made things happen.
With one out and bases loaded, first baseman Brittany Tamez hit a double RBI to outfield, leveling the score at 2-2.
With pressure mounting on starting pitcher Abbie Alvarado, the sophomore walked her third player of the inning, loading the bases again and forcing Esparza to relive her midway through the inning.
Fortunately for the Lady Bobcats, Jennifer Flores came in and struck out the next batter and forced a 4-3 out.
“As soon as I saw she (Alvarado) was in trouble, we brought Jenni out there,” said Esparza. “That’s just something that wouldn’t have happened last year or the years previous to that. The fact that we were able to go out there and put a stop to it shows that their maturity has set in and they were able to rise above it and just keep playing.”
In the top of the fifth, the Lady Bobcats went back to work and found two more runs behind a standup double from April Adames. The sophomore hit a line a drive to center field bringing in Bianca Cruz and Castellanos.
Rio Hondo would close out the scoring after two more runs in the sixth.
The Bobcats have Grulla and Zapata left to close out the regular season. Meanwhile, the Lionettes have to win both remaining games against Port Isabel and Zapata to have a chance of making the postseason.