Look: Thalia Reyes helps lift San Antonio O'Connor past Laredo United South for 6A Bi-District softball championship

HEBBRONVILLE - San Antonio O’Connor blasted three home runs and run-ruled Laredo United South in five innings to sweep the best of three series with a 12-0 victory in Game 2 on Saturday. 

With the win the Lady Panthers pick up the Class 6A Bi-District title and move on to play Los Fresnos next week for the area championship.

“You know they are a great team, and we were prepared,” San Antonio O’Connor head coach Caitlin Bollier said. “We try to take it one game at a time, and I thought that our girls played well. We are excited to be moving on to the next round and congrats to Laredo United South for being here. We look forward to playing Los Fresnos and they are an extremely talented team.”

Thalia Reyes picked up the win for San Antonio O’Connor as she limited Laredo United South to three hits. She had seven strikeouts and did not issue a single walk. 

Laredo United South’s Samantha Acosta opened the game in the circle and Serena Sanchez came on in the fourth inning.

Ella Gonzalez led San Antonio O’Connor at the plate, going 3 for 3 while Haley Carder, Sammie Portid and Jada Munoz all blasted home runs for the Lady Panthers to ignite the offense.

As a team San Antonio O’Connor outhit Laredo United South 9-3. Laredo United South committed four errors and San Antonio O’Connor only had one in five innings of play.

Laredo United South’s Anitza Gutierrez opened the game with a hard single to the outfield prompting San Antonio O’Connor pitching coach Denise Lira to visit the circle for a talk with Reyes. Whatever she said worked as Reyes limited Laredo United South to two hits the rest of the game. 

San Antonio O’Connor utilized back-to-back errors and a walk to bring two runs across the plate in the first inning. AJ Sanchez and Munoz scored to give the Lady Panthers a 2-0 lead at the end of the first.

Laredo United South’s Kayla Ruiz opened the second inning with a single, but Reyes was able to strikeout the next two batters as the Lady Panthers rally fell short.

Leighann Goode ripped a double in the second inning and went on to score as San Antonio O’Connor took a 3-0 lead. 

San Antonio O'Connor broke the game open in the third inning. Gonzalez hit the ball deep to the outfield for a stand-up triple to ignite the offense. Laredo United South was steady on defense and picked up two outs. That is when the San Antonio offense came alive. Ella Salinas singled and was followed by Carder. On a 2-1 count Carder ripped a home run over the left field fence as San Antonio O’Connor took a 5-0 lead.

The Lady Panthers went on to add three more runs and extend their lead to 8-0 after three innings of play. 

While Laredo United South continued to struggle at the plate thanks to Reyes, the Lady Panthers added four more runs in the fourth inning, including a pair of home runs to solidify their lead. 

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