KEVIN NARRO | Valley Morning Star
EDINBURG — The San Benito Lady Greyhounds wasted no time on Friday night.
A six-run first inning highlighted by a two-run homer from Meagan Ybarra along with a masterful complete-game two-hit shutout from Nana Carrizales was more than enough to put the Lady Cougars away 10-0 in six innings in a one-game playoff.
San Benito will now face San Antonio Southwest in a Class 6A area-round contest next week.
“Our mentality tonight was to stay in our zone and to be discipline at the plate,” Ybarra said. “We wanted to make their pitcher work and get to her early, and that’s what we did. It’s great for us get our first playoff win of the year and as a senior it’s extra special. We continue to play hard and play for each other.”
Carrizales retired the first 12 batters she faced and flirted with a perfect game through four complete innings. A leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth inning by Edinburg North’s Hope Rodriguez broke up the perfect-game bid.
“That was one of the top performances she (Nana) has come out with,” said San Benito coach Denise Lira. “She was trying to find the zone early and when she found it she took command of the rest of the game.”
The fifth inning was the only blemish Carrizales and the Lady Hounds had. After an error, Patty Davila hit a looping single. Through six innings, Carrizales yielded only two hits and whiffed seven batters.
“I just took this as another game. I took the circle with confidence and did my thing,” Carrizales said. “To be honest, I didn’t even know I had a perfect game. I don’t think about those things. I just went out there and pitched.”
While Carrizales carved up Edinburg North, her offense backed her up with 10 runs and 10 hits. Senior Joanna Gonzalez broke open the scoring on an RBI single. Gonzalez finished with a 3 for 3 night along with a walk.
Kari Cisneros continued to swing a hot bat with a RBI single of her own that gave the Lady Hounds a 3-0 lead. The breakout frame was capped off by an opposite-field dinger from Ybarra.
The Lady Hounds added three more runs in the third inning when Ybarra and Sarah Garcia each drove in a pair of runs in to push their lead to 9-0.
“Anyone plays better when you’re up,” Lira said. “The girls kept swinging and produced runs throughout the game. We fell a little flat, but bounced back with some more runs. This was one of the best games we played and I’m proud of the girls and how they came out and played.”