By MARK MOLINA | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
PORT ISABEL — Following a run-rule loss to Zapata on Friday night, the Port Isabel Lady Tarpons not were looking to get back in the saddle before the postseason.
Port Isabel did that and more as they put up eight first-inning runs and cruised to a 15-0 District 32-4A win over the Progreso Lady Red Ants in three innings Tuesday night.
It was the final home game for the Port Isabel seniors, who took advantage of six walks and a couple of Progreso errors to build the 8-0 lead, but were soon replaced by the reserves after just an inning.
Head coach Danno Wise said getting the underclassmen the playing time was important with the postseason near.
“We came in with a plan to let the seniors come in, have an inning, but it was critical for us to get the younger girls some experience,” he said. “ We played pretty well this year, but we’re pretty thin. We have a decent starting nine, but beyond that, we don’t have a lot of depth.
“We wanted to give (the seniors) their swan song, but at the same time, let’s be prepared if something happens and we need to call somebody into the game.”
The Lady Tarpons, who have secured the third seed in the district, move to 9-4 in district play and will finish off the season at Rio Hondo and then play a warmup game at La Villa on Saturday.
The Lady Red Ants fall to 0-13.
It was a rough night in the circle for Progreso starter Valerie Martinez.
Martinez started the game by walking two batters to start the game and then saw Port Isabel’s lead-off batter Charisma Valdez steal a pair of bases and score on a wild pitch to make it 1-0.
Port Isabel senior pitcher Christa Valdez brought in the second runner two batters later on an RBI single to make it 2-0.
Two errors, a wild pitch and a walk with the bases loaded brought in four more runs and a single from Olivia Soliz brought in the final two of the inning.
Martinez ended the game walking 12 batters, allowing four hits and striking out two.
One of the seniors pulled for Port Isabel after the first was
Valdez, who pitched just one inning with two strikeouts, a hit and a walk. She also was 1 for 2 at the plate in the first inning with an RBI.
Allison Gonzalez struck out all six batter she faced in two innings of relief work.
“It was a bittersweet moment,” Christa Valdez said of senior night. “On my last pitch, I caught the ball after it was hit I threw it to first and as soon as I let it go, I thought to myself ‘I’m done; I did great.’ The win (Tuesday) was a confidence booster. We played well on defense and our batting was great.
“Hopefully we can take that into our game against Rio Hondo and come out with a win.”
Leading now 12-0 in the bottom of the third, Sabrina Molina crossed the plate following a walk with the bases loaded to make it 13-0 and Marlisa Martinez put the finishing touches on the game with single to bring in the final two runners and end the game.
Port Isabel had just four hits as a team, while Progreso had four errors.
The Lady Tarpons’ Gabby Murchison scored three runs.
The Lady Red Ants lone hit came from Destinee Garza in the first inning.