By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Del Rio is back in the softball playoffs.
The win over Laredo Alexander sent Del Rio back to the postseason for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Del Rio missed out on the playoffs last season after losing to Alexander in a fourth place play-in game and COVID wiped out the playoffs in the 2019-20 season.
Tuesday’s win over the Lady Bulldogs was Del Rio’s third in a row, but it wasn’t easy. Del Rio was down 3-0 in Laredo after the first two innings.
The Queens got things going in the third.
Jena Villarreal started things off with a single. After Ithalia Ozuna moved Villarreal to second on a fielder’s choice, and Villarreal scored on an error, Naylea Santana singled to put runners at the corners. Jada Bishop then hammered a double to left to bring home Santana and cut the lead to 3-2.
After Hope Martinez was intentionally walked, Kayla Mendoza followed with a single to bring in Bishop and tie the game at 3-3. Bekah Alcaraz then ripped a single to left. An error on the play brought in Martinez to give Del Rio its first lead of the game.
Miamor Salazar kept things going with a single to bring home Mendoza and the lead grew to 5-3.
Del Rio added to its lead in the top of the fourth.
Ozuna scored on a double by Santana to make it 6-3. Bishop followed with an RBI single to plate Santana and push Del Rio’s lead to 7-3.
Alexander scored in the fourth to cut the lead to 7-4, then added another run in the bottom of the fifth to trim the deficit to 7-5.
Del Rio regrouped in the top of the sixth.
Ozuna was hit by a pitch and Santana reached on an error to put two runners on with just one out. Bishop then hit another ground ball that resulted in an error and allowed Ozuna to score to make the score 8-5.
After Martinez was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Mendoza flew out for the second out, Alcaraz delivered with a single to left to score Santana and Bishop and double up Alexander, 10-5. Salazar then made it 11-5 with an RBI single that scored Martinez.
Alexander rallied to score four in the bottom of the sixth to trim Del Rio’s lead to 11-9, but that was as close as the Lady Bulldogs would get as Alcaraz retired two of the batters she faced while Santana threw out another Bulldogs runner to help end the game.
Del Rio hosted the Laredo United South Lady Panthers Thursday night and saw their win streak come to an end via a tough 10-9 loss. The win sent the Lady Panthers to playoffs for the first time in seven years. Full game results were unavailable as of press time.
Thursday night’s game was also Parents Night/Senior Night for the Queens. The team’s seniors – Jada Bishop, Desiree Gomez, Kayla Mendoza, Kassady Salazar and Jenna Villarreal – were honored prior to the final home game of their high school softball career.
Del Rio will close out the regular season Tuesday at Eagle Pass at 7 p.m.
—
Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
