Del Rio holds off Laredo Alexander 11-9 in District 30-6A softball matchup
LAREDO, Texas - The Del Rio softball team has been tested all season long, but they continue to find ways to win.
The Queens did it again Tuesday night, holding off a late rally by Laredo Alexander to pick up an 11-9 victory at the Bill Johnson Student Activity Complex.
Del Rio (7-3 in district) is now tied for second place in District 30-6A with Laredo LBJ heading into the final two games of the season.
Del Rio fell behind early on Tuesday after Laredo Alexander took a 3-0 lead on hits by senior Kristina Gamez (4-for-5) and freshman Carmen Perez (3-for-5).
Then the Queens' bats came alive in the third inning.
No. 9 hitter Jenna Villarreal ripped a single to open the third, and that proved to be the spark that ignited the Del Rio offense. Villarreal eventually came around to score on a throwing error, then the floodgates opened. The Queens went on a hit parade, scoring four more times in the inning to take a 5-3 lead. Jada Bishop, Kayla Mendoza and Rebekah Alcaraz all drove in runs in the rally.
Laredo Alexander got back-to-back hits by Perez and Mia Rubio to open the bottom of the third inning, but Alcaraz got out of the inning with three straight outs, punctuated by strike outs of Jasmine Rodriguez and Alexia Gonzalez.
The Queens continued to tack on runs in the fourth with three consecutive singles from Ozuna, Miamor Salazar and Bishop that resulted in two more runs and a 7-3 lead.
Gamez roped a stand-up RBI triple in the bottom of the fourth to score Samantha Arce and make it a 7-4 game.
Del Rio's bats went silent in the fifth inning, but Laredo Alexander continued to rake, tacking on another run to cut the lead to 7-5. Rubio had the big hit with a triple.
Del Rio tried put the game away in the sixth inning with four runs to take an 11-5 lead.
But Laredo Alexander wouldn't go away. They answered with four runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth on hits by Arce, Gamez and Perez. The big blow came on Perez's two-run triple.
Leading 11-9 entering the final inning, Del Rio was able to close the game out to improve to 7-3 in district play.
PHOTO GALLERY
