Lady Coyotes and Lady Lobos advance
Last week, three of the Big 7 teams from La Joya ISD and Sharyland ISD played for the rights of Area champions in best-of-three series. Representing District 31-6A were the La Joya Lady Coyotes backed behind head coach Charlie Rodriguez and his superstar junior pitcher Arlette Hernandez. The Coyotes faced off against the Harlan Hawks of San Antonio. The Lady Hawks were a team that matched up very well with the Coyotes: A defensive minded team that could pitch and field with the best of them. Despite their similarities, the Coyotes won their best-of-three series against the Hawks in two games. The Coyotes took the first game with a score of 1-0, behind Hernandez’s 20 strike outs performance. Hernandez followed game one with a 12 strikeout performance in game two to close out the series two games to none. Hernandez has proven that she is not only one of the best in the region, but in the state and the nation.
The La Joya Lady Coyotes pose for a team photo after their Game 1 Area round playoff win against San Antonio Harlan last week. Progress Times photo by Luciano Guerra
The next stop for the Coyotes will be the Regional Quarterfinals against the Weslaco Lady Panthers in a best-of-three series that started with game one last night in La Joya. The Panthers finished the regular season with an undefeated 10-0 record and won their district championship by a wide margin. Their success is backed by their offense, which has been able to score in double digits in 13 of their last 15 games. The Panthers defense is one of the best this season as they’ve only allowed 62 runs to be scored on them in the 34 total games they played. This will be a true test of strength for the Lady Coyotes, but the Panthers will have a lot to deal with on their end.
La Joya star pitcher Arlette Hernandez jumps for joy after the final out is made during the Lady Coyotes’ 1-0 Game 1 Area round playoff win over San Antonio Harlan last week. Progress Times photo by Luciano Guerra
The Panthers will have to bat against Hernandez who currently has 251 strikeouts (15th in Texas), a 0.54 ERA (4th in Texas), five no hitters (5th in Texas), and 20 wins (15th in Texas.) The Panthers have not played a pitcher of her caliber since the beginning of their season during tournaments.
On offense, the Coyotes are led by Hernandez with a .553 batting average, an on base percentage of .617, and 38 RBIs. She’s followed by senior second baseman Brianna Salazar who has a .432 batting average, a .482 on base percentage, and 21 RBIs. Salazar had the lone run in the Coyotes first game against the Hawks and brought in a run in the second game against the Hawks. Salazar and Hernandez will be a big part of the keys to success for the Coyotes if they want to win this series. Game two is set to be played tonight at 7 pm in Weslaco. If a third game is needed it will be played tomorrow at 7 pm in La Joya. The winner of this series will go on to face the winner between the Lake Travis Cavaliers and the Bowie Bulldogs in the Regional Semifinals.
Representing District 30-5A are the Palmview Lady Lobos backed by head coach Jessica Cardenas-Russell and their superstar senior pitcher Arianna Alaniz. The Lobos played the Pioneer Diamondbacks in the Area round in a best-of-three series. Two Big 7 softball teams haven’t faced off against each other this deep in the playoffs in a long time. The Lobos took the first game by a score of 5-1. The Diamondbacks tied up the series in the second game with a 3-1 win. In the third game, the Lobos closed out the series and earned the Area championship with a 9-0 win.
Alaniz shined in this best-of-three series against the Diamondbacks. She eclipsed the 1,000 career strikeout milestone in the middle of the second game. She added 44 strikeouts to her season total of 413 (2nd in nation) to go along with her 0.77 ERA (10th in Texas), and 25 wins (5th in Texas.) Progress Times spoke to Alaniz about reaching this incredible milestone, “I didn’t think I would be able to accomplish it in my senior year, but I’m glad I was able to accomplish it with this team and while also making school history. It feels amazing.”
The Lobos next stop is the Regional Quarterfinals where they will face the Veterans Memorial Eagles of Corpus Christi. The Eagles have a number of batters who can explode at any given time. They have two batters with a batting average above .500 and two more that are above .475. They’ve put up double digit runs in 12 of their last 15 games. There’s no doubt that they’ll be planning to do that on Friday against the Lobos, but the chances of that happening start slimming down when Alaniz is in the circle.
The defense of the Eagles is backed by their pitchers who have combined for 142 strikeouts on the season. The Eagles don’t find their outs in the circle, they find them in the infield and the outfield. The Eagles shortstop and catcher lead their team in putouts followed by ten of their players who have a fielding percentage above .900. To put it short, their fielding is elite. The Lobos’ offense will have to step up as they have before. Their batting leaders include sophomore infielder Yailyn Trevino (.407 batting average, 0.407 on base percentage, 33 runs), Alynna Gonzalez (.395 batting average, .420 on base percentage, 40 RBIs), and Arianna Alaniz (.392 batting average, .491 on base percentage, 34 RBIs), but they have a number of batters who can find the green between bases.
The Lady Lobos celebrate their win over the Lady D-Backs taking game three with a score of 9-0 in 7 innings. Progress Times photo by Mario Magallon
The Lobos aren’t just built off their batting and pitching, they’re built from a strong foundation of coaches and players that want to work together and get the job done. Progress Times spoke to Lobos senior first baseman Aalysa Longoria about the foundation that the Lobos have built through their coaches and through their players, “We have great leadership. They’re more than just leaders, they’re role models, they’re sisters, they’re family. It’s not just, ‘do this, do that’ with them. They know what’s best for us and they know the potential we have, so we’ve been able to take everything they say in and be great with it.”
Lady Lobos #2, Evoria “Evo” Garcia, gets a base hit during tonight’s game vs the Lady D-Backs. Progress Times photo by Mario Magallon
The Lobos will have to put this all together in order to get the job done tonight. This will not be a best-of-three series. The Lobos and the Eagles will play a winner takes all game tonight at 6pm at Kingsville A&M.
Representing District 31-5A were Pioneer Diamondbacks backed by head Orlando Garcia and their superstar senior shortstop Faith Nunez. The Diamondbacks season came to an end after losing a best-of-three series against the Palmview Lobos. The Diamondbacks softball program has been one of the most successful programs in the Valley and this season proved nothing short of that. Nunez was one of the leaders and main contributors to the success of the Diamondbacks. Next year she will be teaming with the Lobos’ Arianna Alaniz in Kingsville as they take their softball career to the next level.
Progress Times asked Alaniz about how it felt to play against her in a massive series like this, “To go against her was great. Obviously when I’m pitching to her I know that she’s a great hitter. She’s awesome. She’s an amazing defensive player as well and she led her team to do great things. I can’t wait to play alongside her next year.”
In her senior year, Nunez had a batting average of .462, an on-base percentage of 0.540, 41 RBIs and 10 homeruns, while fielding at a .962 percentage. Her contribution to this team and its success will not go unnoticed. Congratulations to the Diamondbacks for making yet another deep playoff run and for Nunez for continuing her career at the collegiate level! We expect nothing but the same success for years to come. 
This wraps up this week in Big 7 softball. Congratulations to the La Joya Coyotes and the Palmview Lobos for advancing to the regional quarterfinals as area champions and good luck to those teams this week as they play to advance to the Regional Semifinals!