ELSA — The Weslaco East Wildcats came through in the clutch for the second night in a row to take down PSJA North 6-4 in Game 2 of their best-of-three Region IV-5A bi-district playoff series Saturday at Edcouch-Elsa High School.
The Wildcats (19-9, 12-6) win the series 2-0 and are moving onto the area round of the Class 5A playoffs after defeating the Raiders (25-6-1, 16-2) by a score of 5-3 in Game 1 on Friday.
“Once we got our timing down, it’s time to start fully executing. Yesterday we used small ball — today we were kind of on their pitches already, we just needed to find the gaps at the right time with our baserunners on,” East head coach Victoria Vasquez said. “We have two seniors on this team, a lot of sophomores, two freshmen and a lot of juniors, and they’re all just working together. The seniors have been here three times before and they know what it takes to win these types of games.”
East trailed 4-2 entering the bottom of the sixth inning and tied the game off RBI singles from Desiree Herrera and Jaisy Caceres. With two outs and runners on second and third, Angie Herrera delivered a two-run single to center field to put the Wildcats in front for good 6-4.
“We just had to come back with our bats and we did that,” Angie Herrera said. “My mentality was base hit, base hit and just hit it in the outfield to get those two runners in and I did that.”
Freshman pitcher Kaylin Morales closed the show with two groundouts and a strikeout to end the game.
“I felt comfortable with the lead that we had and my team had my back throughout the whole game. I know we were down a little bit, but my team picked me up in the dugout and didn’t let me hold my head down,” Morales said.
Morales pitched a complete game with three strikeouts and zero earned runs. Angie Herrera finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
The Raiders pulled ahead early with a three-run second inning as Eileen Reyna hit a hard grounder down the third base line that was mishandled and rolled to the fence. The error allowed Jenisis Ibarra and Mandaly Ramirez to score from first and second and Reyna to come in for a 3-1 lead. PSJA North added another run during the top of the fourth on a Reyna single to left field as she scored on an error.
The Raiders finished with seven hits as a team led by two apiece from Ramirez and Alexa Garza.
Weslaco East now shifts its focus to a matchup against Corpus Christi Carroll in the area round next week. The Carroll Tigers swept Mission Veterans 2-0 in their bi-district playoff series. Second round details are to be determined.
“I just hope that we stay composed, stay focused and stay excited,” Vasquez said. “I told the girls a lot of teams have gone home after this round or didn’t make the postseason, but we get to enjoy the weekend, get back to work on Monday and get ready for another week of softball.”