BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
MERCEDES — Mercedes starting pitcher Mika Vento gave up a hit on her first pitch but the Tigers were not fazed in their playoff opener against Rio Grande City.
Vento went on to strike out nine batters and only gave up one more hit through the evening.
The Tigers won 6-1 over the Rattlers to snag the lead in the bi-district best-of-three series.
Vento felt she didn’t have her best stuff early, but she used the at-bat against RGC’s Dana Gonzalez as fuel to perform.
In the field during the top of the first, the Tigers turned an unconventional 2-3-5 double play (catcher to first to third) to negate the leadoff baserunner.
After getting out of the inning unscathed, the Tigers scored the first run in the bottom of the first on a fly ball from Vento. Angelique Rangel tagged from third to score.
“It was not so much a bummer, but it kind of makes me think ‘You know what? I need to do better’ when they get a hit, especially off the first one,” Vento said. “Once your defense starts making plays for you and once they put up that run, it kind of takes some of the stress away.”
Excellent plays in the field became a theme for the home Tigers. Reba Ayala charged in from center to take away what looked like a Rattlers hit, Natalie Trevino made a shoestring catch on a line drive.
“Knowing the defense is working is an extremely amazing feeling,” Vento said. “When I saw Reba come up from that ball, it took so much weight off my shoulders because I knew they had my back no matter what.”
The game moved at a quick pace thanks to a gutsy pitching performance from Yaritza Marroquin for Rio Grande City.
She pitched out of a jam in the second inning and received similar defensive help from her group to keep Mercedes from jumping to a bigger lead early.
In the fourth inning, two freshmen blew the game open for Mercedes and gave Vento more than enough run support.
Jazmin Gonzales set up the rally with a one-out walk, Caitlyn Acosta bunted her teammates to second and third.
With two outs, Claire Garza came through with a two-run single. Before the inning was done, Makayla de la Torre added another two-run hit.
De la Torre said her teammates talked her out of her nerves so she could play her game.
“At first I was really nervous, but my team was here to back me up,” De la Torre said. “They were telling me ‘calm down, it’s just a game like any other game’ they just helped me. I just went up and hit it.”
Timely hitting was the X-factor in the game. Both teams had pitching and defense come through, but the Tigers seemed to be the only group with their bats in sync.
“We need to be a little more confident with our offense,” RGC coach Nicole Smedley said. “They need to go up to the plate and they need to believe they can hit the ball. I think that we have all the tools to be a great team, it’s just a matter of putting it all together.”
Rio’s lone run came in the sixth inning when Natalie Perez ripped a double into the gap between left and center field, scoring pinch-runner Valerie Delgado.
De la Torre recorded her third RBI in the sixth inning.
“We were a little bit antsy in the box up to bat, but of course in the fourth inning we busted it open,” Mercedes coach Kristy Leal said. “It’s always nice to have Mika in the circle and have a defense that backed her up today. The ball was in play and we expected that from Rio Grande City.”
The series shifts to Starr County for game two tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. If the Rattlers can extend the series it would host the decisive third game on Friday.