BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — PSJA North first-year coach Stephanie Lugo had no preference where. All she wanted was a chance to return to the Valley.
“I always wanted to come back to the Valley and help out,” Lugo said. “PSJA (ISD) took a chance on me here with PSJA North. I wanted to come back and give what it gave to me.”
Lugo is originally from Harlingen where she played softball for Debbie Esparza at Harlingen South. As a senior at Harlingen South, Lugo signed a letter of intent to continue her athletic career at Temple College. Her outstanding play in Central Texas earned her a roster spot at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
After graduating from TAMUK, she became an assistant coach at Corpus Christi Calallen before getting the job with the Raiders.
The roster’s mix of youth and experience, Lugo says, is one of the reasons PSJA North is playing its best softball in quite some time. The mix helped the Raiders down the Mission High Eagles 16-2 Tuesday in five innings.
“We have five seniors and they’ve all been such a big help for us,” Lugo said. “My seniors have let me know about what they want this year to be and I’ve brought in what I needed to bring in. There’s a positive vibe with the girls. I wanted to make them feel that we are a family and we’re going to go through everything together. As long as we do things together, we’re going to be perfectly fine.”
The seniors had their fingerprints all over the game on Tuesday night. Senior pitcher Andrea Salazar got the Raiders on the board with a solo home run to left with one out in the second inning to go up 1-0.
PSJA North’s offense broke the game open in the fourth inning when it sent 12 batters to the plate and eight of them scored. Senior left-fielder Kendra Garcia batted twice in the frame. She collected a double, a run-scoring single and scored a run. Senior catcher Giselle Gutierrez drove in a run, stole a base and then came around to score the Raiders’ third run of the fourth inning.
The Raiders added five more runs in the fifth.
“I’m not sure how, but we seem to get things going in the third or fourth innings,” Lugo said. “They kind of scare me a little bit when we do, but the girls knew it was time to help our pitchers out. They get into gear in the third inning, but we’re trying to fix that a little bit.”
Through two innings, Mission High (2-2 in district) and PSJA North were knotted at 1 before the Raiders’ onslaught began.
“They (PSJA North) got the timing down on our pitches and they went to a short game,” Mission High coach Priscilla Aparicio said. “I think they knew that if they went to a power-hitting game, my outfield would be able to cover ground out there pretty well. They just slapped the ball and put it in play.”
PSJA North (4-0 in district) first baseman Jenna Fabela is a part of the capable youth Lugo touted. Fabela had a big night, reaching base three times and scoring every time. She had an RBI double in the fourth and added a two-run double in the fifth.
“It wasn’t just me. It was a whole team effort,” Fabela said. “I’m coming in as a freshman with coaches who know what they want out of us. I’m blessed to have coaches like them and proud to have these girls as teammates.”