Palmview and Pioneer go head-to-head![]()
Last week, Big 7 softball teams from La Joya ISD, Mission CISD, and Sharyland ISD competed in the bi-district round of the UIL state playoffs to crown winners and to advance to the Area round. Big 7 softball has been firing on all cylinders this year as these teams have now carved their way into their respective schools’ history books. Five softball teams from the Big 7 competed in the bi-district round, but only three came out on top. The Veterans Memorial Patriots and the Mission Eagles were eliminated in the first round while the La Joya Coyotes, Palmview Lobos, and Pioneer Diamondbacks advanced into the Area round with their bi-district championships. The next round of playoffs games is being played this week with some games being played last night and others being played tonight and tomorrow. These best-of-three series will determine who will continue their journey in the playoffs and whose stories will be coming to an end.
A. Robledo, #19, from Sharyland Pioneer gets a base hit. Progress Times photo by Mario Magallon
District 30-5A
The second seeded Pioneer Diamondbacks won their best-of-three series in three game series against the third seeded Mercedes Tigers, advancing them to the Area round of playoffs. To say that this series was a close one would be an understatement. The Diamondbacks took the first game 6-4, but the Tigers climbed back to take the second game with a 4-5 score forcing a Game 3. As it turns out, the third game couldn’t have been closer. It came down to the 7th inning with a score of 11-10 in favor of the Diamondbacks. A close series definitely got the blood pumping for the loud and proud Diamondbacks and they will need to carry over that determination to win against their next opponent. They will go up against the Palmview Lobos in a best-of-three series that started last night at Pioneer and will continue tonight at 6 pm at Palmview High School. If this series needs to go to a third game, it will be played in Palmview tomorrow at 6 pm.
District 31-5A
The fourth seeded Veterans Memorial Patriots lost their three game series in two games to the first seeded Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial Eagles, thus eliminating them from the playoffs. This season saw the Patriots face a bit of conflict with filling positions. Last week, Patriots head coach Vivian Ray shared what she had to do just to put her line-up together when she said, “I had to move players to players to positions that I wasn’t expecting to play them at. I had to move some JV girls in to that varsity role, and when those situations arrived I asked them, ‘Are you willing to make those adjustment’ and we did a good job at being able to overcome those situation and adapt.”
With the constant moves that she had to make, her girls were gaining experience and readying themselves for this season and seasons to come. We asked Coach Ray what that experience does for her team next season, “By all means, having to come up and play at the varsity level gives a big boost of confidence. The big thing that I always tell the girls is that their position is theirs to lose. That’s the truth. They have to continue to work hard if they’re going to keep that position. As a coach, I’m always going to look for something else. Is there somebody stronger? Is there someone better? For the kids that I moved up this year, it’s going to boost their confidence a lot because they survived their first varsity season and they learned how to play their role. It’ll make them square their shoulders and keep their heads up a little bit higher because they played varsity.”
Though their season came to an end this past week, this team exceeded all expectations by making a playoff push and getting in. Now that her girls have more experience under their belt, there’s no doubt that they should be looking to make a run for the district title next season.
Palmview Lobos huddle after last Friday’s Bi-District win against Gregory-Portland. Progress Times Photo by Joe Vela.
The top seeded Palmview Lobos won their best-of-three series in two games against the Gregory-Portland Wildcats, advancing them to the Area round of the playoffs. The Lobos have dominated this season, but they were definitely put to the test in this series. They won both games by slim margins. The first game was a 3-1 win for the Lobos while the second game was a 5-2 win. The competition gets better and better the more they advance, but they’ve been able to prepare their team and their superstar pitcher Arianna Alaniz for moments like this. Though Alaniz has put up historic numbers and has cemented herself as one of the greatest to ever to take to the mound, she’s only human. That’s something that Lobos head coach Jessica Cardenas-Russell has told her in the past.
Cardenas-Russell told Progress Times, “At first, she used to hesitate after they would get a hit off her or a homerun off her. It’s not her first and it’s not her last. I told her that college players and professional players that make millions of dollars don’t strike out every batter, but they know the game goes on. I told her don’t dwell on it, get ready for the next batter, and as a team we’ve been able to manage our mistakes. Get dirt, toss it over your shoulder, it’s gone. We’re not going to be able to change it, we just have to be ready for the next one.”
Palmview Lobos’ National Strikeout Leader Arianna Alaniz pitching during last Friday’s Bi-District win against Gregory-Portland. Progress Times Photo by Joe Vela.
This team doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, but when they do, they know how to clean it up. As previously stated, they are playing a best-of-three series against the Pioneer Diamondbacks with Game 1 having been played last night at Pioneer and Games 2 and 3 (if necessary) to be played tonight and tomorrow at Palmview High School.
District 31-6A IV
The fourth seeded Mission Eagles lost their best-of-three series in two games to the Weslaco Panthers, eliminating them from the playoffs. The Eagles season comes to an end, but the trajectory that they are on proves that they will be a team to look out for seasons to come. They have made the playoffs for three consecutive seasons and they’ll have a clean slate next season as they will be getting reclassified to 5-A.
The top seeded La Joya Coyotes won their best-of-three series in two games against the fourth seeded Los Fresnos Falcons, advancing them to the Area round of the playoffs. After dominating in the first game with a 10-0 win, they were able to edge the Falcons out of a 3-2 win in the second game of the series. The Coyotes superstar pitcher Arlette Hernandez struck out 11 batters in the first game and eight in the next game. For those who don’t know, she plays offense just as well as she pitches. She homered in both games and had a series total of four RBIs and four hits.
Photo 0223: Arlette Hernandez, Junior #34, Pitcher for the Lady Coyotes, is greeted by her teammates at home plate as she scores a homerun. Progress Times photo by: Mario Magallon
Progress Times spoke to Coyotes head coach Charlie Rodriguez about how they’re preparing Hernandez and the team for this upcoming series, “Everything starts in the circle for us, obviously Arlette Hernandez is our leader and everybody has done a great job of filling in. Everyone has accepted their roles, some of them are bigger than others, but we work really well as a team. That has been the key.” Rodriguez went on to say, “We pinpoint the things that we need to be very aware of. Number one is: Are we satisfied with what we have done? The kids obviously say no. It’s a long season, yes we get tired, but we rejuvenate every day. We need to make sure that our kids stay sharp in the areas that have made us successful and try to improve on the areas that we have not done well in.”
The Coyotes will go up against the Harlan Hawks in a best-of-three series that started last night at La Joya and will continue tonight at Harlan High School. If this series needs to go to a third game, it will be played in Harlan tomorrow at 2 pm.
Progress Times will like to congratulate the Patriots and the Eagles for making the playoffs and the Lobos, Diamondbacks, and the Lobos for claiming a bi-district championship and advancing to the next round of the playoffs. We would also like to wish the best of luck to the softball teams that will be competing this week. Go out there and make your school proud!