By MARK MOLINA|The Brownsville Herald
Just like in recent years, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers softball team once again featured a bevy of standout talent and knowledge of the sport in 2018.
The team continued its dominance this season and a big part of that was the trio of junior pitcher Mia Anzaldua, senior catcher Harley Morales and head coach Rayner Cardenas, who all earned top honors.
Anzaldua, who was money in the circle in some of the biggest moments of the season is The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro Softball Pitcher of the Year, while Morales and her awareness behind the plate have earned her Defensive Player of the Year and Cardenas has been named Coach of the Year.
Cardenas said that the team’s success during this season and in recent years has been a group effort.
“A lot of it goes to my assistant coaches and to the staff that we have in Heriberto Rodriguez, coach Jerry Delgado and Taylor Esteves,” he said. “They go unnoticed, but we share every responsibility…a lot of it goes to them as well. Also, the effort the girls bring, just makes my job easier. Everything I get, I get it because of the work that the girls put in and the work that the parents put in behind the scenes.”
The Lady Chargers (26-12, 14-0) repeated as undefeated District 32-5A champions and advanced to the regional quarterfinals.
After the season, Anzaldua was tabbed as the district’s most valuable player, while Morales was named co-defensive player of the year.
Anzaldua was a force in the circle, going 12-3 on the season while striking out 180 batters, allowing 47 hits, just nine earned runs and posted a 0.649 ERA in 97 innings.
She posted 10 games with double-digit strikeouts, including 21 in two wins against district runner-up Mercedes. She also had 17-strikeout performances against Gregory-Portland in the area round and Corpus Christi Carroll in the regional quarterfinals.
“That all goes to the team,” Anzaldua said. “Having a strong defense behind you as a pitcher is probably the most comfortable thing ever because you can relax out there and you don’t have to pitch tense. Our sticks were also good this year and that is just an extra add-on to the season.”
Cardenas gave Anzaldua the go in big moments after she stepped up early in the year when senior pitcher Cassie Valdez was nursing an injury.
“Here’s a kid who carried us at the beginning of the season,” Cardenas said. “Mia was there and she pitched extremely well and as the season progressed, she got stronger and more confident. In the playoff run we had, she was as dominant as anyone as I’ve ever seen in the Rio Grande Valley. I truly believe special things are going to happen for her.”
While Analdua was the arm, Morales was catching behind the plate and provided the security blanket her pitchers valued so much.
Morales had 348 putouts in 361 total chances and committed just six errors with a .983 fielding percentage in 38 games played.
While Morales comes off as a soft-spoken individual off the field, but once the gear goes one, she transforms.
“I feel that when I get on the field, it’s a different person and a different intensity,” she said. “There are so many people depending on you and so many people watching, I feel like you have to turn it up. The past training over the past five years has taught me to be ready for anything and keep everyone on their toes and have everyone ready.”
“We’ve all worked hard for what we do, I think I’ve worked hard and I’m just really proud (to be recognized).”
Morales spends a lot of time behind a mask, but Cardenas said she is one of the biggest keys to the team’s success.
“How Harley controls everything behind the plate, she’s basically the captain on that field, she directs traffic and she talks to these girls,” she said. “They look to her for leadership and guidance. She’s a sweet-looking, soft-spoken girl, but put her behind that plate and put the uniform on her and she’s as tough as nails.
“We’ll miss her tremendously for what she brings to the game, her leadership and just the way she plays the game and how the girls respect her so much for that.”