By FREDDY GONZALEZ
Staff Writer
RIO HONDO — It’s safe to say the Rio Hondo Lady Bobcats are not going to catch any teams by surprise.
While the team might have had a disappointing early exit from the playoffs last season, every opposing coach knows the talent-rich Lady Bobcats return virtually the entire team.
Grabbing a share of the District 32-4A crown (with Port Isabel) last year, certainly isn’t going to help the Lady Bobcats fly under the radar.
Nevertheless, the defending co-district champions are hungry and eager to get the season underway.
“It was a shock, we were all disappointed because our goal was to go further (into the playoffs),” said junior pitcher Miranda Martinez about last season. “But we know we are going to come back and do better this year, because we are already clicking and it’s only just preseason.”
“We want to get started with the district already,” added junior shortstop Alexa Castellanos. “We want to get to the playoffs already because our goal is to get deep into the playoffs. We are not doing the mistakes we did last year, because we’re working harder, correcting our (mistakes) and telling each other what we need to do.”
Selfless, is another term used to describe the mentality of the Lady Bobcats this season. In the past, that philosophy might not have been a priority. However, as Martinez said, “This year we are all playing for each other.”
“We can’t be selfish,” explained Martinez. “If one player is down, we have to be there to pick her up, if one of us is having a bad game then the others have to step it up and be a team player.”
And that altruistic attitude has already started working for Rio Hondo.
After 10 games, the Lady Bobcats record stands at 8-2, with their only two setbacks coming at the hands of 5A opponent Edinburg Vela in a championship game at last week’s Donna ISD Tournament and PSJA North in pool play of the La Joya ISD Tournament.
“That was a good measuring stick for us because last year they were one of the better teams in the valley and that’s something that we strive for here in our program,” said head coach Brett Esparza. “Given the opportunity to measure up to somebody, you kind of get a chance to see where you are at. We played better than some of our district opponents, but certainly not good enough to say that we were one of the elite teams in the Valley.”
“We try to use the tournaments to test ourselves against some of the better teams. You want to do well in them, but we don’t want to trophy chase. We want to play quality softball and build the idea that we want to keep playing ball in May.”
Saturday the Lady Bobcats travel back to the west side of the Rio Grande Valley to compete in the consolidation bracket of the La Joya ISD Tournament.
“We are at a place where we want to just keep improving and get better every day,” said Esparza. “We want to push our limits and compete.”