A tradition of winning and high expectations are something that is discussed when Natalia softball arrives yearly. With their backs against the wall, the girls in blue needed a win last Friday at home to tie district leading Jourdanton for a share of the 26-3A title if they are to finish district play strong.
The girls in blue came out in front of a packed home crowd, and took care of big red. Natalia’s Daniella Garza was able to dominate from the mound, as she allowed a single hit leading the defensive charge.
Offensively, Natalia was able to account for eight hits en route to a 4-0 shut-out victory. This allowed the Lady Mustangs to improve to 20-5-1 overall and 5-1 in 26-3A.”We came out early and set the pace thanks to a two-run home-run by Biviana Figueroa,” Coach Travis Crowley said. “We struggled offensively through the middle of the innings, but once again our pitching on the mound was superb by Daniella Garza.”
After shutting down Big Red 1-2-3 in the top of the 1st, the girls in blue came alive in their first at bat. Trista Vera started the inning with a single. After watching the second batter fly out, Natalia’s Biviana Figueroa came up to bat and blasted her second pitch over left field giving the Lady Stangs the spark they needed.
This lead stood until the 4th inning. In the top of the fourth, Jourdanton accounted for their lone hit of the game which was a single. Jourdanton would finish the game with only one runner reaching third base and two reaching second base.
In the bottom of the 4th, Natalia’s Bryanna Perez got things started with a double. Thanks to a fly out, a base on balls and a ground out, Perez scored giving Natalia a 3-0 lead.
The Lady Mustangs scored one final run in the bottom of the 6th thanks to a single by Felicia Guzman and a double by Jimena Figueroa. This would be the final run en route to their 4-0 victory.
“Garza has been the backbone of this team all year,” Crowley said. “We were able to scratch a couple of more runs to pad our lead.”
Natalia didn’t play perfect, as they had three defensive errors and a ton of pop-ups after not being quite as patient as they could have been offensively. To be fair to the girls in Atascosa County, they were without their starting pitcher along with two other starters who were injured in a non-life threatening accident the day before the game. Best of luck and a fast recovery to the injured Squaws!
At bat- Garza 1-3, Trista Vera 2-3-1run scored, Sam Sanchez 0-0-1run scored, Guzman 1-3, Gabby Contreras 1-2-1RBI, J. Figueroa 1-1-1RBI-1run scored, B. Perez 1-3-1run scored, JuJu Morales 0-3, Sontoya 0-2 and B. Figueroa 1-3-1HR-1run scored.
Defensive Put-Out Leaders: Contreras 13 and B. Figueroa 4. Assists- Guzman 3, Garza 3, J. Figueroa 3, and B. Figueroa 2.
Upcoming Games
Natalia was on the road on press night with a huge showdown at Karnes City versus a Lady Badger squad who currently sits two games behind Natalia and Jourdanton after being upset by Poth on Friday. During this game, KC lost their ace pitcher during the game after an injury to her hand. It was unknown if she was going to be available on press night versus Natalia.
On Friday, April 13th the Lady Mustangs will welcome the Poth Pirette Softball team to town for a 7:00 p.m. district contest.
On Tuesday, April 17th Natalia will host Cole for their final home game of the season at 7:00 p.m.
By Eric Smith