By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — Considering the manner in which last year’s district title was determined, Edinburg High coach Jesse Banda came away feeling like his team scored a huge victory Tuesday.
With a 5-0 win over visiting Edinburg North, the Lady Bobcats assured themselves no worse than a split in the season series.
Such was the case a year ago, when both teams shared the 31-6A title with Weslaco High and coin flips determined playoff seeding.
Tuesday’s win helped give Edinburg High (12-5, 2-0) a better chance of avoiding a similar fate.
“This is huge,” Banda said. “Once you lose these games, you’re automatically going to be second or third (at best). Like last year, with that three-way tie we had. We don’t want to do that again this year.”
The Lady Bobcats responded with such urgency, pounding 14 hits, including two doubles and a triple. And Dezi Marmolejo allowed only three hits and no walks while recording four strikeouts in a complete game.
“Dez was on,” Banda said. “Dez was throwing strikes, the defense was playing well, so the momentum was on our side. The way Dezi had command of her pitches, she was dominating the game.
“We were just hoping to keep the ball (on the) infield, not make any errors, not give up any walks, and everything worked out fine for us.”
Maya Zavala went 3-for-3 at the plate, scoring the game’s opening run following Natalie Rodriguez’s groundout. Kayla Contreras finished 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored.
Becca Delgado went 1-for-3, driving in two runs in the bottom of the third inning to give Edinburg High a 3-0 lead.
Then, in the fourth, Angie Salinas got on with a single before Marmolejo’s subsequent triple drove her in.
“They scored runs. We didn’t score,” Edinburg North coach Richard Tressler said. “If you can’t score, you can’t win, and that was the whole deal tonight.
“Not the defensive play or the pitching. We’ve overcome games and won in those situations. The bottom line is, if you don’t hit and you don’t score, you don’t win. It’s a pretty simple game.”
Edinburg North’s defense helped avoid a more lopsided outcome as it stranded nine baserunners, including seven in scoring position.
But with only three runners getting on, the Lady Cougars were unable to get much going offensively.
“Just a lack of focus,” Tressler said. “We’re better hitters than that. We put the ball in play. We had people on base. We had opportunities to score. But they outplayed us. That’s the bottom line.”
“We’ll recover from it,” he added. “I’ve never had a team quit on me in 20 years, and I don’t think these girls will be the first to do it. We’ll regroup and see what we have Thursday against Weslaco.”
For Edinburg High’s part, Banda was encouraged by his team’s all-around effort. Eleven players went to the plate for the Lady Bobcats, and 10 came away with hits.
“We’re starting to jell right now,” Banda said. “Everybody’s playing like a team, so we’re doing real good.
“I’m sure when we go there (to Edinburg North), they’re going to give us a run for our money.”