By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers fought their way back to tie a game that had gotten out of hand early but failed to seal the deal.
After allowing four runs during the first inning, Brownsville Veterans nearly completed a comeback but ultimately lost to the Harlingen South Lady Hawks 6-4 in nine innings Tuesday night in Brownsville.
Anahi Anaya scored the winning run on a wild pitch during the top of the ninth, and Kaitlynn de la Fuente scored an insurance run for the Lady Hawks on a single by Ariel de la Fuente. Brownsville Veterans didn’t respond.
“We’re young, we’ve got a lot of sophomores and freshmen, and for them to keep their composure it says a lot for the growth of out team,” Brownsville Veterans coach Ray Cardenas said. “They battled, they pushed through, they didn’t panic and we got out of a lot of innings. We hate to lose the game, but the way they battled, I’m proud of them.”
The Lady Chargers were retired in order in the ninth by freshman pitcher Monkica Coronado, who had been brought into the game during the seventh inning as a replacement for McKenzie Wiley.
“(Brownsville) Veterans had seen (Wiley) for four different at-bats, and when you see someone that much you really start to get your timing down,” Esparza said. “I felt like I needed to make a change and go with the freshman, and she did a great job.”
The Lady Hawks’ quick start began with them recording four hits between the first five batters. The hits were accompanied with a pair of errors, and South took advantage. The Lady Hawks converted their opportunity into four first-inning runs, but Brownsville Veterans pitcher Cassie Valdez did not allow them score again until the ninth inning.
“(Cassie) is seasoned. She pitches a lot in the summer. She’s very competitive. She’s a very gifted pitcher, and there’s great thingsto come of her in the future,” Cardenassaid. “A lot of freshmen would get down 4-0 to a Harlingen South team and have issues. She was up to the challenge, and I was proud of the way she handled it all the way until the very end.”
The Lady Chargers responded during their half of first and slowly began to chip away at the Lady Hawks’ lead.
Rheanna Gomez hit a one-out double to left field to spark Brownsville Veterans’ offense. Sarah Sandoval followed with a walk, and Darlena Galvan hit a bloop-single to right. The Lady Chargers plated their first run on a fielder’s choice by Thalia Perez that scored Gomez.
Brownsville Veterans trimmed South’slead to two in the second. Harley Morales hit a leadoff double and was eventually brought home by a Richeson fielder’s choice.
Brownsville Veterans then tied the game in the sixth when, with two outs and GiGi Richeson on third, Gomez struck out on a wild pitch but ended up safe at first, allowing Richeson to reach home.
“Defensively, I think we might have had one error that allowed the tying run on the throwback to the first baseman on the strikeout,” Esparza said. “There were a couple nice hits that (Brownsville ) Veterans got that we might have misplayed. They were good hits, it’s not like they were errors.
“(Brownsville) Veterans is a well-coached team. They’ve come a long way since years past. They do a really good job. I knew tonight was going to be a really tough game.”
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.