MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
RAYMONDVILLE — With the first three playoff spots already taken and the Raymondville Lady ’Kats looking to clinch the fourth, the La Feria Lionettes faced a must-win situation.
Once the game began, it showed.
Led by a seven-run third inning, 15 hits and five shutout innings from pitcher Abbie Castillo, the Lionettes stayed alive in the playoff race by defeating the Lady ’Kats 12-10 on Friday night in Raymondville.
Trailing 6-3 after two complete innings, the Lionettes put up seven runs during the top of the third, sparked by an RBI double from Castillo and highlighted by a bases-clearing triple by Eneli Garza with the bases loaded.
Castillo used the run support and held the lead in the circle from there.
“It’s been a long time coming,” La Feria coach Daryl Gonzales said. “All year long, these girls have been resilient, pulling through and knowing that we have a chance to get to the playoffs. We’re not content with where we’re at, but our girls showed up tonight. I’m very proud of them because they fought well, fought hard and played as a team.”
With the win, La Feria improves to 6-6 and Raymondville falls to 6-6 with two games left. The two are likely to meet in a play-in game for the final spot if they stay tied after next week.
Castillo, who gave up five earned runs during the bottom of the first, rebounded by posting three straight scoreless innings and ended the night giving up seven hits and nine earned runs with four strikeouts. The La Feria pitcher also went 4-for-4 from the plate with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Garza went 3-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs and one run scored.
Raymondville, which trailed 3-0 after the top of the first, put up a six-run inning of its own during the bottom half of the inning, led by Julissa Guerrero and Dominique Gonzalez, who each drove in two runs in the inning.
The Lady ‘Kats didn’t score again until the bottom of the fifth, cutting a six-run deficit after a pair of Lionettes runs during the top half of the inning to just two, but Raymondville got no closer.
“I think we fell short with a few pitching errors and baserunning errors,” Raymondville’s Cassandra Cazares said. “Other than that, (the team) fought. It was a good game, (Castillo) was a good pitcher, and our pitcher came back and fought as well. Our defense came and our hitting came, so to come back like that (in the fifth) was a good game.”
Guerrero, Dominguez and Karina Garza each recorded two RBIs for the Lady ‘Kats
Raymondville pitcher Aaliyah Munoz gave up 11 earned runs 15 hits and struck out four in the loss.
With a possible rematch on the horizon, both teams are going to take a little from Friday night’s slugfest and hope to learn from it.
“It’s the kind of momentum we want to have at the end of the season,” Gonzales said. “We’re not there yet. We have a little bit of work to do. We might see this team again if things play out. I think my girls deserve this, and they’ve earned it. It’s been a long year with growing pains. I’m really proud of them.”
Cazares feels a few tweaks can make the difference.
“We practiced for this game and we fell short, but we should face them again if we’re tied,” the Raymondville coach said. “We just have to make our small adjustments and we’ll take it from there.”