By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
This past Friday, February 2, Port Isabel hosted Donna in their second softball scrimmage of the season.
In their previous scrimmage, Port Isabel was held without a score against Mercedes, but this time the Lady Tarpons bats were on fire.
The game started off as a low-scoring affair as the teams were tied at 1-1 after one inning of play. In the second inning, Port Isabel’s starting pitcher, Chelsea Gonzalez kept Donna in check as they failed to score.
In the bottom of the second inning, Port Isabel quickly saw themselves down with two outs. Gonzalez’s single kept the inning going as she brought in a baserunner. Mylah Delgado then hit a line drive to third base for a single.
Meanwhile, at second base, Gonzalez took advantage of the first baseman holding onto the ball too long and she stole third base. Fortunately, the throw to third base was overthrown and Gonzalez made her way home as the Lady Tarpons jumped out to a 3-1 lead.
The hits kept coming for Port Isabel as a double by Andrea Garcia brought in another run. Then a fly ball by Carmen Garza brought in Garcia as the Lady Tarpons now led 5-1.
After a scoreless third inning, things started to heat up again in the fourth.
In the top of the fourth inning, Port Isabel had a few errors that Donna took advantage of to make it a 5-2 game. Donna’s offense continued to chip away at Port Isabel’s lead with a handful of singles, until Gonzalez stopped Donna’s rally with a strike out. Donna now trailed 5-4.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Garcia had solid hit which landed in between left and centerfield, which brought in two runs giving Port Isabel a 7-4 lead. Garcia then stole home on a throwing error, as the Lady Tarpons closed out the fourth inning with Port Isabel now leading 8-4.
In the top of the fifth inning, Garcia went it as pitcher and she quickly downed the first two batters. The next batter hit a blooper to the outfield. It was followed by a hit to the rightfield baseline which brought in a run to make it an 8-5 game. Shortstop, Kimberley Barrera, reeled in a ground hit and threw out the runner at first base for the final out.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Gonzalez hit the ball into the outfield for a double and an RBI. After reaching base on a hit by pitch, Delgado stole second base. As the catcher attempted to throw out Delgado, Gonzalez who was at third base stole home as the Lady Tarpons extended their lead to 10-5. A walk had Port Isabel with bases loaded. The catcher tried to throw out the baserunner at first base, but the ball went into the outfield and two more runs came in to make it 12-5 in favor of Port Isabel.
After a scoreless sixth inning by both teams, the Lady Tarpons added one more run in the seventh inning. Donna scored once more in the 8th inning for a final of 13-5.
The Lady Tarpons will be on the road this Friday, February 9 as they travel to Brownsville to take on the Lady Vikings in their first non-district game, 6 p.m. game start.
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