321
For many the number 321 doesn’t mean anything, but to the Weslaco Lady Panthers it meant everything to them this softball season.
Last Saturday, the Weslaco Panthers made history by being the first softball team from the Rio Grande Valley to win a state championship. After nearly five months of practice, non-district games, tournaments, in-district play, and playoff series, the Panthers found themselves partaking in the biggest game of the season and one that would define their legacy as legendary.
It didn’t come easy for the Panthers, but they never asked for it to come to them easily. Progress Times spoke to the Panthers head coach Mario Rodriguez about how they kicked off their season back in February. Rodriguez told us that he scheduled his team to play against the toughest opponents that they could find.
The first tournament they played was in Mission, Texas. They played against the likes of the Palmview Lobos, United South Panthers, Veterans Memorial Chargers, and the PSJA Bears. It wasn’t until the second tournament that they would face their biggest test of the season. They travelled to Houston to play against a talented group of teams. They went up against and defeated the Floresville Tigers and the Cypress Hills Wildcats. Before they had a chance to play these two teams they played the Katy Tigers, who were at that time the #1 ranked school in Texas and the nation. They won that game against the Tigers and from there on they were given the confidence and reassurance that they were going to need to do amazing things for months to come.
Rodriguez told us, “We knew we had a pretty good ball club. I’m always going to downplay and say ‘we’re okay’ but deep down I knew that this ball club was something special.” The girls continued to prove that statement to be true, but what kept them motivated to do that?
Rodriguez informed us about the mottos that he instilled in his girls from day one, “In the beginning, the coaches and I chose the motto of what our season was going to be like. This year, with a more experienced group, we chose: Play hard, play smart, and play together. That was the motto we put on our practice shirts. On the sleeve we added the State of Texas with the number 321 on it. That was symbolic to us as far as what our goal was.” He continued, “321 was the distance from our home field to McCombs field in Austin. We were 321 miles away. That was a reminder to the girls of what we’re doing all of this for.”
Making it to McCombs field was the ultimate goal for these girls. It meant that they would be playing for the State Championship. Despite beating the #1 team in the nation, Rodriguez knew that his girls needed to accomplish more than just one win to achieve that goal. He told his Lady Panthers, “Talk where your feet are at, we can’t be talking about the third or fourth round when we haven’t even started district play.”
A month later, district play began, and they proved that they very much could be that team that could make a deep playoff run. The Lady Panthers went on an absolute tear through district. They finished district play in first place with an undefeated 10-0 record and won the district’s championship. This wasn’t a surprise as they’ve won the district championship two of the last four years.
Four years ago, the team went four rounds deep into the playoffs. The following year they went five rounds deep, and just last year they went three rounds deep. Rodriguez told us, “This is not something that happened overnight. This is not a one hit wonder. This group of girls, the entire group, has put in a lot of work in the offseason and during the season. It’s a combination of all those things that allowed them to do what they did.”
He continued on about the keys of success for this season, “Overall our girls’ unity, chemistry, and playing for one another. Our younger girls wanted this senior class to go out at the top. We always told them to play your heart out because one day they will be that senior and you’re going to hope that some underclassmen will play hard for you so you can be the one to go out on top. It’s unity, respect, and comradery. Everyone wanted to play for each other.” Playing for each other would end up being the deciding factor in the eventual historic playoff run.
Their playoff run began in Mission when they went up against the Lady Eagles. They won a best-of-three series against the Eagles to advance to the Area round. They went on to beat the Holmes Huskies in three games to advance to the regional quarterfinals where they played the La Joya Coyotes and defeated them in two games. From there they took on the Lake Travis Cavaliers in the regional semifinals and defeated them in three games. In the regional finals they faced the Brennan Bears and defeated them in two games to take them to the state championship tournament.
They were now in the state tournament and just one win away from playing for the state championship. They played against the Guyer Wildcats, who were the #1 ranked team in the state at that time. This 13-inning behemoth of a game ended in favor of the Panthers with a score of 5-3. This game saw the Panthers sophomore starting pitcher Madelynn Cantu throw nearly 200 pitches while striking out 12 batters. Rodriguez told us, “She doesn’t pitch like a sophomore. She’s really cool, calm, and collected every time she’s on the mound.” Her composure pushed the Panthers to finish out this game on top which led to them playing for the state championship.
Being a part of the state championship tournament meant that the seniors who were on the team weren’t going to be able to graduate alongside their Weslaco High School classmates, but that was the plan all along. “The seniors’ goal was always to graduate on McCombs field.
Weslaco has over 600 students and they did not want to sit through all of that. They wanted their own little special sendoff. That’s definitely something that kept them motivated all the way through.” Though they were not able to walk on and play at the University of Texas McCombs field in Austin due to the weather, they were still able to do it in Georgetown, which may have motivated them more to win the upcoming game. The seniors walked onto the field in Georgetown and received their diplomas following their win against the Wildcats.
A day later, they were set to play against the Midway Panthers for the state championship. The game got off to a quick start as both teams scored against each other with ease to set up a score of 3-5 in favor of Midway throughout three innings. Midway began to pull away in the 6th inning and after Weslaco gave up two home runs in the 7th, the lead was taken to a whole other level.
Coach Rodriguez called a timeout to rally his team. He told his Lady Panthers, “One inning is not going to define everything we’ve done. We have had a very successful season. Just keep playing for each other.” He told Cantu, “Trust your defense, you don’t have to strike them out. You have a great defense behind you.” Cantu then forced the next three batters to pop up outs.
Going into the bottom of the 7th inning the score was 3-9. Rodriguez told his team, “Give yourself a chance and trust that the girl next up is going to do her job.” That’s exactly what they needed to hear to start their comeback.
Weslaco Panthers’ Dayla Hinojosa got things going with a single that ended up being a triple after an error from Midways’ first baseman. Alexis Soliz’s singled to bring in Hinojosa to cut the lead down. Midways’ pitcher walked Lola Reyes which allowed Soliz to advance to second. Another walk from the pitcher sent Mia Rodriguez to first, Reyes to second, and Soliz to third for bases loaded. A hit-by-pitch would allow for Soliz to score another run to cut the score down to 5-9 in favor of Midway.
Midway would send in a new pitcher to prevent a Weslaco comeback. Elizabeth Craig dribbled the ball down to the third baseman which allowed Reyes to score and for her girls to advance with bases still loaded. Romy Nunez was up to bat and she was able to single a line drive to left field that brought home Rodriguez. The score was now 7-9.
With bases loaded with courtesy runners, Clarissa Mejia and Kalysa Izaguirre, on base, sophomore Andrea Ortiz went up to bat with the game winning runs on base. The count was (3) three balls, (2) two strikes, and (1) one out. 321. Ortiz was either going to get walked or she was going to strike out, but what Coach Rodriguez told his team before this rally started must’ve stuck with her because she gave herself and her team a chance to win this game.
With hundreds of thousands of people watching, Midways’ pitcher threw the ball into the zone and Ortiz’ bat met it. Everyone watched as the ball sailed over the left field fence for a grand slam to take the lead, win the game, and to secure themselves the State Championship.
This season, Andrea Ortiz wore #11 on her back and funny enough, her grand slam won the game with a score of 11-9. Every star in the sky aligned for the Panthers after putting in countless hours of hard work and dedication to this game. We asked Rodriguez about the emotions that ran after the game “The grand slam was great. Everyone is going to remember that grand slam. To me, one of the best parts was the seven batters that came up before the grand slam. The seven batters that did their job perfectly allowed Andrea an opportunity to hit the grand slam. Anything else could’ve happened. It was very special. I wake up every morning and replay all the video clips to remind myself that it really happened.” He went on to say, “They’re great kids. They’re going to grow up and be amazing at whatever they do. I told them: Don’t let this be the highlight of your life. This is just a stepping stone. Go off and do better things.” Surely with leaders such as Rodriguez, his assistants, and the administration, these girls are going to continue to do great things and excel in all aspects of life.
From top to bottom, the Weslaco Panthers team played at an elite level and against all odds, were crowned the first softball team in RGV history to win the State Championship. From four year letterman seniors Romy Nunez, Alexis Soliz, and Mia Rodriguez to fellow seniors Elizabeth Craig, Kalysa Izaguirre, Keira Soza, Lauren Perez, Ema Galvan, Miranda Pantaleón and Daisy Hinojosa down to the underclassman Lola Reyes, Dayla Hinojosa, Madelynn Cantu, Clarissa Mejia, Roberta Rodriguez, Madison Arevalo, Hannah Montelongo, Sophia Mejia and the State Championships’ MVP Andrea Ortiz, this team was destined for greatness from the start.
A more than well-deserved congratulations goes out to the Lady Panthers from Progress Times and our community to the Weslaco Panthers for their historic season that ended up seeing them reach the top of the mountain. Not only did they win the highly coveted State Championship, but over the course of many seasons, they, as well as many other teams such as the Harlingen South Hawks, have paved a way for RGV softball to be recognized as elite. They’ve inspired us, and others, to strive for greatness by representing themselves, their families, their school, their city, their county, and now their state to the highest and fullest extent.
This historic run will never be forgotten and now that the season has come to an end, we will rejoice in every moment that we witnessed in this incredible season. Thank you to head coach Mario Rodriguez and his staff; first assistant coach Daniel Hinojosa, Cruz Morales, Rolando Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Rebecca Reyna, senior team manager Abraham Garcés along with their phenomenal group of girls on achieving the highest of highs. They deserve their flowers, all 321 of them.