By MARK MOLINA, STAFF WRITER
Despite trailing the entire game, the Lopez Lady Lobos put themselves in position to steal a game from the Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks in the program’s playoff debut.
Down three runs with bases loaded, and the potential winning run at the plate in the bottom seventh inning, the Lady Lobos added a run on a Diamondback passed ball to cut the lead to two.
But the potential two-out rally was over as soon as it started as Lopez third baseman Alex Castro was thrown out trying to slide into second base moments later, giving Sharyland Pioneer a 5-3 win and a 1-0 lead in its best-of-three bi-district series Thursday night at Lopez High School.
Lopez struggled at the plate against Pioneer starting pitcher Mariah Youngblood most of the night, but bad base running decisions like the one in the seventh ultimately cost them a chance to win Thursday night.
“I think the girls were focused taking pitches and waiting for something they liked,” Lopez head coach Jesse Martinez said. “(Pioneer’s) pitcher did a good job working us inside. We adjusted to that, but unfortunately we did lack discipline on our base running, especially there at the end.”
Castro was intentionally walked and loaded the bases after she knocked a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning, but Pioneer head coach Orlando Garcia said he was willing to roll those dice.
“Coming in, we knew (Castro) was Lopez’s stick and she hit a home run earlier in the game and we’re OK with that,” Garcia said. “With her coming to bat, we wanted to put her on and load the bases to keep it on the force out. Of course, the end result worked to our advantage. We’ve done that before with other teams with some big batters.”
“That’s the chance you take as a coach and the team responded.”
Game two is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at Sharyland Pioneer.
The 31-6A champion Diamondbacks looked sharp early on as short stop Emily Michki got the scoring started with a two-RBI single, to make it a 2-0 game.
While Pioneer racked up 12 hits on the night and got the fast start, it never managed to get the separation they wanted, stranding 10 batters on base on the night.
But Youngblood’s night in the circle made those missed opportunities ultimately irrelevant for the Diamondbacks, as she struck out 11 batters, tossed four scoreless innings and held Lopez to just six hits and two earned runs on the night.
“(Youngblood) is a fighter and she knows it,” Garcia said. “She is a senior and is one of the leaders on this team and she is going to fight to the end and do what she has to do.”
The Diamondbacks added a run in the top of the fourth on an RBI double from Youngblood and an RBI single by Fabiola Gonzalez in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth, Lopez look as if it had some life at the plate as a Lexi Castro RBI-double brought in a runner to make it a 4-1 game, but she would be thrown out trying to slide into second, ending the inning.
A balk on Lopez pitcher Kassi Rubio would allow another Pioneer run to score in the top of the sixth to make it 5-1, adding to her tough night in the circle in which she gave up 12 hits and four earned runs in a loss.
Lopez’s Alex Castro finally was able to get the better of Youngblood as she opened the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run to deep center field, making it a 5-2 game.
Unfortunately, the next time Alex Castro was on base, it resulted in her being thrown out sliding to second and ending the game.
Still, Martinez takes the home run and the last three innings at the plate as a silver lining of sorts and is hopeful he and his team can tie the series in Game 2.
“It was exciting and I was excited to see what we did — we’re very capable as a team to come back and tie this,” Martinez said. “If we give ourselves a chance, worked on getting our heads on correctly and doing the right things on the bases, this would have been a different game.
“We were able to figure out the pitching pattern, swing the bat better and we are hoping to continue that — we want to take this energy, bottle it up and take it with us into (today).”