TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
EDINBURG — Edinburg North centerfielder Klari Lopez had two RBIs and a home run and started the relay that threw out PSJA Memorial’s tying run at the plate to preserve a 4-3 win that earns the Lady Cougars a 2-0 series victory and a trip to the regional semifinals.
PSJA Memorial mounted a furious two-out seventh-inning rally down 4-1, scoring two runs before freshman Kristi Alanis doubled to the centerfield wall. With Sam Fuentes already on second, she was waved home.
She hesitated slightly and Lopez’s relay to second was on point. The throw home was dead on, getting to catcher Abby Hinojosa when Fuentes was still about two steps from the plate.
Edinburg North Coach Richard Tressler said the Lady Cougars work on that relay play nearly every day in practice. Lopez said when she picked up the ball in center, she knew she had to get it to Ayissa Maldonado at second base, and fast.
Hinojosa made the tag that ended the game and dashed PSJA Memorial’s hopes of extending a fabulous playoff run that no one could have dreamed up just three weeks ago.
“We shouldn’t have even been here,” PSJA Memorial coach Gilberto Rodriguez said. “We could have scored more runs and won this. But it is what it is. North came out on top and they deserved it. We wanted it, too, but the magic ended.”
Edinburg North (31-7) will play either San Antonio Reagan or New Braunfels Canyon next weekend and now is one of just 16 softball teams left in the Class 6A playoffs.
It is the fourth straight time the Lady Cougars have the made it to the fourth round, but it wasn’t easy. For a short time it looked as if they had left the door open for PSJA Memorial to get back in it. Tressler said he expected nothing less from the plucky Wolverines’ squad.
“I have to give Memorial a lot of credit. There’s a team that really grew toward the end of the season,” Tressler said. “I was not surprised that they did not give up. Coach Rodriguez has done a great job.”
And it didn’t even have to be that close. Edinburg North stranded six runners — four in scoring position. Meanwhile, PSJA Memorial pitcher Ashley Castillo held most players not named Klari Lopez in check.
Lopez and Hinojosa were the only Lady Cougars with multiple hits, and Lopez had two of the team’s four RBIs and scored twice. Lopez said the home run was her fifth of the season.
“It was an outside pitch. I just waited and I hit the ball to the opposite field,” said the senior right-hander. “It was a perfect pitch. When I saw it and felt it I said ‘This is gone.’ That hit felt really good.”
Edinburg North pitcher Jackie Longoria turned in another efficient performance, striking out three, walking none and allowing eight hits (four in the seventh) on 78 pitches. She also had a hit and scored.