By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
Mission High’s road win over McAllen Memorial on Monday did more than hand the Lady Eagles sole possession of second in District 30-6A. It helped Mission boost its confidence entering the second half of its district schedule.
“The way I look at it, when you’re not expected to win and you have every opportunity to lose and you don’t and you pull out a win,” coach Reuben James Trejo said, “that’s when a team builds character.”
Throughout the course of the season, Trejo says there’s two to three opportunities for a team to boost its confidence. Monday’s win certainly provided that.
The Lady Eagles pulled through defensively, as they’ve been known to do this year, beating Memorial 2-1 to break out of a two-way hold for second place.
Bases were loaded twice in that game, and Mission came through each time leaving runners stranded.
“Even when we went down 1-0, they didn’t panic,” Trejo said. “They just found a way to win.”
It was arguably Mission’s best defensive effort in a big game this season. Earlier in the year, they had moments in which they allowed four to six runs in one inning alone. Now, they’re stringier on defense, and it’s helped them in district, where they allowed only six runs through the first six games.
Mission has seen a little bit of everything this season. There’ve been times, Trejo said, “when we’ve gotten our butts kicks this year, and there’ve been times when we’ve won big games.”
What happened on Monday, he said, “is going to help prepare us toward our goal of making the playoffs.”
Last year, Mission finished knotted for the runner-up spot in district. In such scenarios, head-to-head matchups and even seeding games help determine playoff pairings, which is why beating rival Memorial, which also has aspirations of winning a district title, went a long way in trying to secure a favorable postseason opponent.
“I’m happy for my girls,” Trejo said. “I told them, I don’t want them to be complacent or be satisified with what we’re doing. A couple losses here and there and we’re fighting for playoff positioning instead of fighting for a district title. When the race is this close, you can’t take a night off. I think if they keep that attitude, we’ll be OK.”
ESTABLISHING CONSISTENCY
Consistent hitting has been hard to find this season at Edinburg North. At times, the Lady Cougars can pound out 13 of 14 hits and produce 20 runs, coach Richard Tressler said. Or it can come up with two runs on five hits.
Either way, the 19-year coach says, “That’s trouble.”
North has won district the past five years as part of their 16-year playoff run. And if it intends on prolonging that streak, Tressler understands it’ll have to come with more reliable outings at the plate.
Experience isn’t the root of the problem. After all, the team starts three seniors, four juniors, one sophomore and one freshman. What is at the center of it all, Tressler says, is mental focus. The team has been dependable defensively and in the circle, yet their hitting has been wildly unpredictable on a night-to-night basis.
Jackie Chapa, Abby Hinojosa, Jackie Longoria and Klarissa Lopez have done their part to carry the load. As they enter the midway point of their schedule, though, the Lady Cougars will be looking for more consistency throughout the lineup.
Perhaps most encouraging through all this: North (14-3, 5-1) entered the second half of district Thursday in a three-way tie for first place in 31-6A.
“It goes to show you how good these girls are without really having played their best ball yet,” Tressler said. “When we do that and we maintain it, we’re going to be tough to beat.”