By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Del Rio Little League is sending a team to the Senior Softball State Tournament.
The 12-girl squad won the Texas West – Section 3 Little League Senior Softball Tournament Saturday night in Castroville, defeating Greater Helotes in what turned out to be a best out of three series.
Members of the team, which is comprised of 15- and 16-year-olds, include Ava Casillas, Devyn Casillas, Syann Casillas, Christi Colunga, Aubany DeLaO, Anacamilia Martinez, Rebecca Mitchell, Andrea Montelongo, Mia Bella Ojeda, Ithalia Ozuna, Alaila Salazar and Elaina Marie Sanchez. Darin Casillas, Isabel Guajardo and Jose Montelongo are the team’s coaches.
If several of the girls’ names seem familiar it’s because many of them played with the Del Rio High Queens varsity squad that qualified for the playoffs in 2022. DeLaO, Ojeda, Ozuna, Syann Casillas and Colunga were all a part of the Queens roster during the 2021-22 season.
The state tournament will be played in Abilene at Lake Kirby Park, which is also home to the Wylie Little League, beginning Wednesday, July 13. The four-team tournament features Del Rio, Borger, East Brownsville and the defending world champions from Waco. According to Chance Bacon, the Waco team’s coach, the team won the title in 2019, but the Senior League Softball World Series was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Waco and East Brownsville will meet in the tournament’s opening game at 5:30 p.m. Del Rio and Borger will meet at 8 p.m.
The winner of the Texas West State Tournament advances to the Senior League Softball Southwest Region Tournament in Alexandria, La., that begins July 23. They’ll join teams from Louisiana, Colorado, New Mexico and the Texas East State champions.
Del Rio Little League President Pat Rodriguez praised the girls’ performance on a post on the official Del Rio Little League Facebook page, but added that the team would need the community’s help to get to Abilene.
“The team is in dire need of donations/sponsorships to fund room and board during their time there. It is estimated they will need $2,500 – 3,000 to cover their expenses,” Rodriguez wrote.
Donations can also be made via Cash App to $delrioll, or via PayPal at drll.president@gmail.com. Persons may also call 830-488-7111 for more information on donating or to get a receipt for their donations.
Del Rio, representing Little League District 35, and Greater Helotes, representing Little League District 19, were the only teams in the double elimination sectional tournament that began Thursday, July 7.
Del Rio began the tournament with an 8-5 win, but in a controversy-marred second game that saw one Del Rio coach and a player ejected over the use of a bat that was deemed illegal by the Little League regional office despite having been approved by umpires prior to the game’s start, Helotes bounced back to take the wild contest, 19-13, to force the winner-takes-all finale Saturday night.
That loss woke something up in Del Rio as the girls came out hot, grabbing an 11-1 lead by the bottom of the fourth inning. Helotes was able to cut into the lead, but when the final out was made, Del Rio was moving on to the state tournament with a 20-6 win.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
