TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
PHARR — Thursday’s Game 1 of the bi-district series between Sharyland Pioneer and Edcouch-Elsa went into extra innings.
On Friday, Sharyland Pioneer’s powerful bats invoked the mercy rule and its freshman hurler threw a gem for a blowout in front of a standing-room-only crowd.
Diamondbacks pitcher Andrea Ortiz was untouched for the first 3 2/3 innings, then cruised the rest of the way as Pioneer piled up 11 hits and nearly scored at will to beat down Edcouch-Elsa 15-5 in six innings and even the Class 5A bi-district best-of-three series Friday night at PSJA North. Game 3 is scheduled for 5 p.m. today at PSJA North.
The freshman Ortiz surrendered four hits and five runs, a couple unearned, and stuck out two on 93 total pitches. The diminutive Ortiz’s exploits were also on display at the plate, as she collected four hits in five at-bats with three RBIs, three runs and two stolen bases.
Early in the game, Ortiz forced seven of nine E-E batters into pop flies, making easy work of her opponents.
“My fastballs were working the best. I had to have confidence in myself and my pitching and my defense behind me,” Ortiz said. “I knew they were making a lot of plays behind me, especially my outfield. And I knew that once I got confidence, I could throw more pitches. My spin on the ball had a lot to do with them popping up.”
The one-Diamondback wrecking crew was nearly enough to beat the Yellow Jackets on her own, but E-E was uncharacteristically mistake prone and committed a half-dozen errors that either allowed runs to score or kept Pioneer rallies alive.
Yellow Jackets coach Ruth Flores replaced starter Ocean Gomez with E-E trailing 2-0 after two innings, bringing in Aaliyah Cerda for the third stanza. Cerda forced two outs with minimal damage done, but the third out was elusive. Behind a couple of E-E errors, two hit batters, a walk and a few more hits, Pioneer brought 13 batters to the plate and scored eight runs in the inning.
The surge built an insurmountable 10-0 lead for the Diamondbacks. The Yellow Jackets made a run in the sixth to make the game a little more interesting, but for the most part, the contest was over. Pioneer added one run each in the fourth and fifth innings and then three more in the bottom of the six to get to 15.
“Today (Friday) we had a long talk before we boarded the bus. We talked about how yesterday (Thursday) was very uncharacteristic of us. We had about eight errors, and we had to cut that back,” Pioneer coach Or-lando Garcia said. “But today, we had our freshman on the mound, and she did great for us. She did a fantas-tic job, but I’m also really proud of our outfield. They have been kind of our demise all season, but today they really stepped it up with some great catches. And then it all came together with our bats.”
Pioneer’s powerful second baseman Fabiola Gonzalez went 2 for 4, blasting two doubles and picking up two RBIs. The Diamondbacks’ Sarah Odale was walked four straight times by E-E.