Harlingen High, San Benito slug it out; Cardinals come out on top

2 weeks ago 34

HARLINGEN — A two-home run night by Abby Garcia and homers by Emma Louks, Zuelly Cruz and Destiny Delgado powered Harlingen High to a 16-9 victory over San Benito in a pivotal District 32-6A meeting Tuesday night in Harlingen.

The Cardinals take control of the second place in the district, moving to 5-3, and San Benito heads to third with a record of 4-4.

Harlingen High held off a spirited comeback effort by a young San Benito team. The Greyhounds cut the Harlingen High lead to 11-9 after a homer by Arianna Rodriguez during the top of the sixth and a four-run top of the fifth.

“San Benito is a great team that is coached very well, I have a lot of respect for Elias Martinez and what they do over there,” Harlingen High head coach Kevin Ledesma said. “They have a very young team and they put them on track to compete against us. The first time we have been second place in a very long time. Last year we set the tone with our playoff run … this is the next step, we are right behind a dominant Weslaco team and that is very important for our girls to understand.”

“I am extremely proud of them,” Ledesma added.”

The Cardinals’ bats were on fire Tuesday night.

Cruz and Delgado’s home runs in the bottom of the sixth put the game away. Cruz hit a three-run shot and Delgado followed it with a two-run homer to put the Cardinals up 16-9.

Louks went deep during a six-run fourth inning for the Cardinals. Harlingen High’s Amaris Gomez drove in two runs with a triple and Cruz knocked in a run with a double before Louks’ three-run shot, giving the Cardinals a 11-4 lead heading into the fifth inning.

“It was what we are capable of,” Ledesma said. “We scored six in one inning and five in another, we have great bats throughout our lineup – there is not a weak spot.”

Ledesma added it just depends on how his team shows up today because of his youth. The Cardinals have nine sophomore, four freshman and only three seniors on the roster.

“If we can stay consistent the next two games and really pick up steam headed into the playoffs it is going to be awesome to see what we accomplish,” Ledesma said.

Garcia went deep during the first and third innings, both of which were two-run homer to give the Cardinals an advantage in both innings.

“I have never been one to have too much confidence in my batting, so coming in, hitting two home runs and just putting the ball in play feels great,” Garcia said. The pitcher was walked in her next at bats, but on the flip side – Harlingen High was walking Greyhounds power-hitter JoJo Montes late in the game as well.

San Benito returns to action against Los Fresnos in another District 32-6A matchup, at 6:30 p.m. Friday in San Benito. Harlingen High faces Brownsville Rivera at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Brownsville.