By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
CORPUS CHRISTI — Taylor Tafolla wore a wide smile on her face Saturday, after Weslaco High came away with a victory in Game 2 of the Region IV-6A final.
Through seven innings, her Lady Panthers teammates did their best to distract New Braunfels Canyon pitcher Brooke Vestal, directing chants and noisemakers at her, eventually prompting an umpire to set in and issue Weslaco a warning.
By then, however, the damage had done. Vestal went deep into the counts as the game wore on. She walked six batters, hit four of them and allowed 11 hits as she threw upward of 160 pitches Saturday in a 7-1 loss at Cabaniss Field.
“Yeah, we could be annoying,” Tafolla said, grinning.
Throughout the playoffs, the Lady Panthers (33-7) have looked for any type of edge in an attempt to get over the first-round hump. To start the playoffs, coach Mario Rodriguez informed his players they wouldn’t be receiving bi-district shirts because the bar had been set much higher than that.
Ever since, the Lady Panthers have won 11 of 13 games to become only the second Valley program ever to reach the UIL state tournament.
Three times in the first three innings, Weslaco loaded the bases, and each time it came away with runs, despite working against two outs and the No.4-ranked team in the state.
“You have to get in their heads, make a lot of noise,” Tafolla said. “Just be as loud as you can.”
For a third game in a row, dating back to the regional semifinals, Vestal walked in a run. It went on to happen three times Saturday, giving Weslaco a 3-0 in the lead in the third inning, before Audrey Escamilla added two more runs with a hit to center field to make it 5-0.
“Our main goal today was to get her off her game, trying to intimidate,” said Alyssa Escamilla, who scored four runs. “Coming into this game, she wasn’t as strong as (Friday in Game 1). I think we made her less confident, and she just started slowing down.
“When she was walking us, we were trying to get in her head, trying to get her off the game, doing everything we could to get her to walk us more. We were just trying to being loud, saying trying to say things to intimate her.”
Though only a sophomore, Vestal was dominant heading into the regional finals. The University of Oklahoma commit routinely struck out between 8 to 10 batters during the latter stages of the playoffs. And though she struck out eight on Saturday, Weslaco showed little signs of resistance at the plate as the game wore on.
“She’s a great pitcher,” Rodriguez said. “She throws a lot of heat, a lot of movement. She’s probably the fastest pitcher we’ve ever face. I know once her pitch count got up, we’d give ourselves a chance to stay in it. Our approach was to take her deep and hope her velocity came down.”
“I think a lot (of the team’s success) has to do with our chemistry and being able to put together hits, being there for one another,” he added. “Just things that go unseen that helps you get to this point. Everything needs to fall into place.”