By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
The Hanna Lady Golden Eagles opened district play with a 5-0 loss to the San Benito Lady Greyhounds at home at the hands of pitcher Crystal Castillo, who threw a 17-strikeout no-hitter.
The loss comes as a reminder to Hanna coach Rey Lerma that if he’s going to coach his team to a playoff position, he’s going to have to do so against stern competition.
“We’ve got some tough teams in our district with a lot of tradition and loyalty,” Hanna coach Rey Lerma said. “You’ve got the San Benitos who’ve been to the state tournament, Los Fresnos and Harlingen South. Those are the games that we need to go out and play at the top level, because those are the teams that we need to really focus on.”
The Lady Golden Eagles, along with the rest of District 32-6A, will take one week off and next play Tuesday.
“Our district is tough and we have to go out and dominate, and that’s what we have to work on,” Lerma said. “Hopefully we can put this one behind us and look forward to next Tuesday against Harlingen.”
DISTRICT OPENERS
Another team expected to finish near the top of the district made its mark in its district-opener.
The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons — who lost to the Lady Greyhounds in the 2014 postseason — routed the Lopez Lady Lobos 17-0 in four innings.
“We did a good job, we made a couple errors, but nothing that really cost us,” Los Fresnos coach Traci Blackman said about the win. “Our pitcher did a good job. We had bases loaded, one out, and she struck out the next two batters. We hit the ball well, and we ran the bases well. Overall, we played a good game.”
The Lady Falcons will face a tough challenge early in the district season when they travel to San Benito to face the Lady Greyhounds at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
“They have a very tough pitcher, but if we can wait for the pitches we need to we should be OK,” Blackman said. “They beat us in the third round of the playoffs last year and that was our problem, but I think we’ve learned since then.”
COMING UP
Elsewhere in softball, all District 32-5A teams begin their march to the postseason Friday.
The Pace Lady Vikings begin their district campaign by traveling to Mercedes to take on the Tigers, and the Porter Cowgirls play host to Donna North. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
DISTRICT BASEBALL
The District 32-6A baseball season starts Tuesday, with all games beginning at 7 p.m.
The Hanna Golden Eagles again will look to earn a postseason berth, and they’ll start by playing host to the San Benito Greyhounds. The Los Fresnos Falcons will try to make it back to the playoffs, opening district by playing host to the Lopez Lobos.
The Rivera Raiders will attempt to best last season’s campaign, starting off with a home game against the Harlingen High Cardinals, and Brownsville Veterans Memorial kicks off the district season on the road when the Chargers face the Harlingen South Hawks.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.