By STEFAN MODRICH, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial softball coach Rayner Cardenas never backs down from a challenge.
Having recovered from a cardiac arrest in July 2019, the veteran coach spent a month and a half in the hospital for rehabilitation and came back determined to prove that his squad was still the team to beat.
“I had a lot of friends and family telling me, ‘Don’t do it, your health is important,’” Cardenas said. “I wanted to redeem myself as a coach. … That we would be able to do it again even though nobody gave us any credit. It didn’t matter how big of a star you were in our program, all that mattered was you had the right mindset and were willing to compete.”
The first obstacle facing his Lady Chargers in 2020 was one of addressing perceptions and expectations. The departure of Mia Anzaldua, one of the most dominant pitchers in program history, along with nine other seniors, including Liz Abete and Joselyn Head, led some to question the ability of the defending District 32-5A champions to win the crown for the fourth straight year.
“I was excited about this group,” Cardenas said. “We had three girls that were returning, and the other six spots on the field were going to be filled by freshmen. … It was a personal challenge to me and to us and the program to say where we were at. We wanted to stay at that elite level with the other schools we had been a part of for the last few years and continue to excel on the diamond.”
This year’s Brownsville Veterans squad featured corner outfielder Brianna Rodriguez, shortstop Sheng Martinez and first baseman Alexys Bustos.
Cardenas said Rodriguez was a dependable defender and praised her attitude and demeanor.
“When it was her time to shine, she was the brightest star out there,” Cardenas said. “It was a pleasure having her in our program.”
Bustos filled in after an injury to Brownsville Veterans’ starting first baseman and ended up playing the majority of the season.
“(Bustos) was very instrumental in keeping us in games,” Cardenas said. “She was under a lot of pressure because she was the only backup at that position. We didn’t miss a beat with her on the field.”
Martinez, a transfer from Pace, sat out the entire district season and playoff run in 2019 and was the only returning starter from this year’s small group of seniors. She played shortstop and hit .364 with an on-base percentage of .417.
“She was the heart of the team,” Cardenas said. “The girls took her and brought her in, and made her feel like she was with us since the beginning. She just has a great positive attitude and outlook in life. … She has the biggest heart I’ve ever seen from a kid.”
Martinez has enrolled in the Air Force Academy, where she will report after her graduation. She said she will miss the team’s camaraderie and genuine spirit of friendship and cohesion, both on and off the field.
“It’s sad that I never got to finish (the season) and go to the playoffs,” Martinez said. “We all grew up playing together, and I could trust (my teammates) as much as they could trust me. Our chemistry was really good. The whole team wasn’t about trying to beat someone out for a position. … We all had the same goal. Most teams are separated into groups, and they try to fight their way to being a starter. That wasn’t us. We trusted that the decisions Coach Cardenas made were good ones.”
A pair of juniors — Cristina Gonzalez (.349 batting average, 15 hits and 10 RBIs) and Lorena Rodriguez (.432 batting average, five home runs and 24 RBIs) — also had an outsized impact on the team’s success.
“It was an emotional rollercoaster for us,” Lorena said. “When he came back, we wanted to make it the smoothest possible ride for him and to prove to people that we’re still that team. … When (the University Interscholastic League suspended the season March 13), we found out an hour before the game that it was going to be our last game. It was pretty emotional, we had a lot of sad faces in the dugout.”
Gonzalez felt the need to step up as a leader and let the younger players know how significant it was that the team elevated its play for Cardenas.
“It was kind of scary, having your coach in critical condition,” Gonzalez said. “Lorena and I really wanted to make this season special for him. … I kept telling the girls, ‘We need to do this for Cardenas.’ I made sure that these underclassmen knew what we were doing. I just wanted to make him proud, and to know how much we wanted to win for him.”
Despite the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic ending the Lady Chargers’ season at 9-6-1 and without the opportunity to make a playoff run, Cardenas and Co. feel their impressive play this year speaks for itself.
“What they were able to accomplish in that short period of time was beyond what a lot of people had expected from us,” Cardenas said.
Brownsville Veterans’ coach appreciated not only how hard his girls worked for each other, but also how motivated and inspired they were by his comeback and belief in them.
“I feel the worst for (the seniors), because they’ve been a part of so much history we’ve been able to make at Brownsville Veterans,” Cardenas said. “We wanted to go for that fourth district title in a row, and we believed we had the team to do it. … They were a part of history but weren’t able to finalize anything on their own.”