PHARR — .477, .466, .429, .427, .404.
That’s the batting averages of the top five hitters — Victoria Gonzalez, Kristy Alanis, Kristin Maldonado, Chelsea Salinas and Victoria Maldonado — for the PSJA Memorial Wolverines softball team.
.0994.
That’s the ERA (earned run average) of starting pitcher Salinas, a junior, this season.
So, what can one extrapolate from those numbers?
This is a very, very good team and they will be out to show that once again as the Wolverines host Corpus Christi Calallen in the Region IV-5A quarterfinals, a best-of-3 series beginning at 7 p.m. Friday.
Memorial advanced to the quarterfinals following an anticlimactic three-game series against Port Lavaca. The Wolverines left their bats home (not literally) for Game 1, falling 6-1. They tied the series at 1 each with a 6-4 win then rolled in Game 3 with an 8-0 victory.
The Wolverines went 14-0 in District 31-5A, not getting much resistance from the competition. Overall, they have a 31-5-3 record.
First-year coach Rachel Barbosa said she has been impressed by the team. She took as interim coach and was named head coach midway through the season.
“Some of them play basketball and volleyball, so I knew what they could do since I coached them already,” Barbosa said. “They moved down from 6A to 5A and I knew they could take care of business.”
Salinas blew through the district from on the mound. In one of the closest games in terms of score, PSJA Memorial beat Sharyland High 6-0. Salinas struck out 15 and gave up just two hits.
“When I came in she was the one who really stood out, with her bat and on the mound,” Barbosa said. “She was clutch in some many of our games, getting big home runs, driving in crucial runs and striking out big hitters. She’s amazing.”
Barbosa said with all the big bats in the lineup there were times during the year when the team became a little complacent with such easy wins. Instead of “next man up,” it was more like “next man can do it.”
“Look at the Port Lavaca game,” Barbosa said. “The only bat to show up was Victoria (Gonzalez), who hit a home run.”
That loss, however, woke up some bats and the Wolverines hit four home runs over the next two games to advance to this Calallen series.
“I am always telling the girls to stay starving — not just stay hungry,” Barbosa said.
They’ll need to be hungrier than Calallen for the regional quarterfinals. Barbosa said the team is nearly a mirror image of the Wolverines with big bats, solid defense and a pitcher that can throw the team upon her shoulders.
“It’s just going to come down to who makes the fewer mistakes, who doesn’t commit the errors fielding or mentally,” Barbosa said. “Chelsea is confident but, of course, is more confident if we can put up some runs. It makes her job easier — let’s her be a little more calm and confident in what she’s doing.
The last time we were in the regional quarterfinals, the seniors right now were freshman. Now the goal is to go one round farther, at least.”