ALICE — Corpus Christi Carroll punched Mercedes straight in the gut during the first two innings, putting up nine runs on the Mercedes Tigers.
Mercedes ate the punches and start delivering pain themselves to pull off a thrilling comeback against Carroll, winning 11-9 in a Region IV-5A quarterfinal playoff game Friday night at Alice High School.
“Like I said before, we have had so many games that we have been down and these kids do not let it faze them,” Mercedes head coach Kristy Leal said. “Not one bit, they are constantly fighting for each other, and today it was all about playing for each other.”
Mercedes was down 9-1 for the majority of the game but teased scoring at times until it finally exploded offensively during the fifth and sixth innings.
Sophomore Ashley De Leon smashed a two-run home run in the sixth to make it 9-8 and was followed by Bridgette Sanchez with a shot in the same place, over the left-center field wall.
Senior Klarissa Rizo drove in the game-winning runs to make it 11-9. Rizo also came in to pitch after being down 9-1. Rizo pitched a brilliant game. Rizo easily maneuvered past the Carroll lineup, hardly surrendering a runner.
“You have to go in there strong and not be afraid,” Rizo said. “That is all I did. I just told myself, ‘What can we lose?’ It was unbelievable what we just did, but I knew we can do it and knew in my heart that all I had to do was play tough.”
Sanchez went 3-for-4 on the evening. Sanchez picked up the first RBI of the game in the second for the Tigers and two more pivotal RBIs during the bottom of the fifth. First baseman Elise Perez drove in the last run of the fifth inning to make it 9-6.
Mercedes had other chances to score. During the bottom of the third, the Tigers had bases loaded and no outs with the No. 3, 4 and 5 hitters coming up to the plate, but all three popped their hits straight up.
“I think it was just a little small shot to the jaw,” Leal said. “The kids were trying to do too much. They were trying to put too much on their shoulders. It takes one at a time and they all fight for each other — when you put it all together, that is what you get, a comeback.”
Mercedes faces the winner of South San Antonio and Smithson Valley in the Region IV-5A semifinal round next week.