KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Harlingen South was not going to be denied in their 32-6A home opener on Tuesday afternoon at the Lady Hawks field. Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth, Brownsville Hanna had the Lady Hawks on the ropes until South’s offense opened up with a 13-run fifth inning.
The monster inning saw 13 Lady Hawks go to the plate and racked up nine hits in the frame. Despite the mid game funk, the 13-run inning was more than enough to send South to a 16-5 win in five innings and improved their record to 3-0 in 32-6A.
“I’m proud of the girls and how hard they fought,” said South head coach Elias Martinez. “We were down early and the girls displayed mental toughness and had a huge inning that put the game away.”
South will now shift their focus to Thursday’s bout with San Benito, who also won on Tuesday, setting up an early district clash between two of the district powers with both teams boasting a 3-0 record. The two will tangle on Thursday at San Benito with the first pitch set for 6:30 pm.
Junior shortstop Krystal Gonzales who made the switch from catcher to shortstop this year, stepped in and went 2 for 3 with three RBI, three runs and a walk. Gonzales bats third in the order and has provided a smooth glove and bat that has helped the Lady Hawks to a 3-0 league start.
“Heading into that fifth inning, coach Martinez wanted us to keep fighting and to keep our heads up,” Gonzales said. “We knew the game wasn’t over, we made some errors in the beginning and we knew we had to cut down on them, and at the plate we were more patient and it all came together that one inning.”
Leading 3-0 in the second inning, Hanna took advantage of a pair of walks issued by senior pitcher Kaitlynn De La Fuente. DD Guerrero laced in a two-run single that helped give Hanna a 4-2 lead. Ari Areceneaux added to the Hanna lead with a solo homer in the third inning.
Natasha Canales sparked the fifth inning rally for the Lady Hawks with a leadoff walk, De La Fuente followed with a base hit, then came the momentum shifter. Hanna intentionally walked Gonzales that sent Kytana Muniz to the plate.
Muniz made them pay with a game tying two run double, then Christina Arellano had the go ahead RBI that opened up the flood gates.
“We snapped out of a funk and Hanna came to play, they’re a well-coached team and they’re tough. It was a great win for us, any win is big for us in this district,” Martinez said.