The Natalia Lady Mustangs dropped their home opener in a high scoring affair last Tuesday, February 21st versus the visiting 6A Laredo United South Lady Panthers.
After holding a 2-0 edge through two innings of play, but the 3rd and 4th innings put the girls in blue in a hole they were unable to come out of.
“Injuries and youth showed up again in this game,” Natalia Head Coach Travis Crowley said. “We had one bad inning giving up nine runs on multiple errors. We showed resilience by battling back to make it a close game.”
The youthful Lady Mustangs who start five freshmen, two sophomores, one junior and one senior had numerous errors as mentioned.
This allowed United South to score three runs in the top of the 3rd inning which gave the visiting squad a 3-2 edge.
Natalia surged back ahead with a two run 3rd inning before watching South score nine big runs in the top of the 4th taking a lead they never relinquished.
This turned into a great game if you liked to watch the ball being put into play all over the field by both teams.
When the 7 inning battle came to a close, United South defeated Natalia 15-12.
Natalia sophomore Daniella Garza took the loss on the mound although she did account for 7 Ks in the contest.
“Base running errors and mental mistakes also hurt us offensively,” Crowley said. “I thought the top of our line-up carried us last night. Overall, it was a big learning experience for us and will only make us better.”
At bat: Garza 2-4-1run scored, Jasmine Gomez 1-3, Felicia Guzman 1-4-1RBI, Camryn Arizola 1-2-1run scored, Bryanna Perez 0-4-2runs scored, JuJu Morales 1-3-1RBI-1run scored, Regina Garza 3-5-1RBI-1run scored, Dezarea Perez 1-2-1RBI-2runs scored, Biviana Figueroa 4-4-4RBIs-4runs scored, Gabi Sontoya 0-1.
By Eric Smith
Staff Writer