Rio Grande City’s playoff run ends in regional semis

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By Bryan Ramos

BEEVILLE — Rio Grande City had the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate with two outs in the top of the seventh inning against Liberty Hill, but the Rattlers couldn’t muster up any more magic like they did in Rounds 1 and 2 of this year’s state playoffs.

The District 30-5A champion Rattlers saw their season come to an end in a 6-2 loss against Liberty Hill on Friday at Beeville High School in a Region IV-5A DII Semifinal One Game Playoff.

Rio Grande City ends its year at 23-5 overall. Liberty Hill (24-6-1) advances to next week’s regional final to face the winner of Corpus Christi Carroll and Leander Rouse.

“I think those first two innings got us. We had a big injury there in that first inning and that was hard to kind of get the morale back,” Rio Grande City head coach Roque Cortinas said. “ I tip my hat to Liberty Hill. They hit the ball well. I think Jorja (Fuentes) battled. She struggled the first two innings but shut them out after that. We had some base-running errors that we haven’t made due to some inexperience, but man, I’m so proud.  So, so proud of a team that I think nobody expected to do much, and for us to get here, I’m proud of them.”

Liberty Hill jumped on Rio Grande City early with a four-run first inning off five hits and one walk. The Panthers added two more off a two-run home run by Addison Shifflett in the bottom of the second for a 6-1 lead.

Fuentes, Rio Grande City’s ace, found her rhythm after surrendering seven hits in the first two innings, holding Liberty Hill to just two hits over the final five. She finished the contest with five strikeouts.

While the Rattlers were in an early hole, they had success at the plate with nine hits on the evening, the same amount the Panthers finished with.

Rio Grande City, however, struggled to bring them across after a first-inning injury on the base path to right fielder Jenelle Gonzalez, followed by some base-running miscues that proved costly for the Rattlers.

Fuentes and Leilani Reyna led Rio Grande City with two hits apiece. Fuentes scored one run in the first inning and drove in Dayana Lazos in the third after Lazos reached base with a double to left field.

While the game was played at a neutral site in Beeville, the stands showed the support Rio Grande City has received all season. Red, black and white shirts filled the Rattlers side of the bleachers and bled into Liberty Hill’s side of the stands.

“I’ve always felt that including family and parents, it makes the team even stronger because we have so much support,” Cortinas said. “We’ve been carrying this support everywhere we go. We played tough. We didn’t give up and they’re proud of us.”

While Rio Grande City’s 2025 season is over, the Rattlers will return a loaded group next year. They’ll graduate just two seniors and look to build off this year’s undefeated district championship and third round playoff appearance.

“We had a lot of girls that didn’t have a lot of experience. They came in this year and were thrown into the fire and played well,” Cortinas said. “We have a lot of girls that are multiple sport athletes and hopefully this will help them carry that over to other sports. We expect the same thing next year.”

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