By Moses Leos III
A gritty 21-inning effort from pitcher Sam Villegas kept the Lehman Lady Lobos’ season alive.
After falling 7-3 in game one on Friday, Lehman eliminated the San Antonio Brennan Lady Bears, 7-4 and 5-4, Saturday in the bidistrict round of the playoffs. The Lady Lobos advance to take on Dripping Springs in the area round.
Game one of their best-of-three series begins Thursday at Lehman at 7:30 p.m. Games two and three will be in Dripping Springs with first pitch scheduled for Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
“My arm is so sore,” Villegas said. “But it feels good to win.”
Lehman stumbled in its inaugural playoff game Friday at Lobo Softball Field. A bevy of errors plagued the Lady Lobos, who committed seven, which led to four unearned runs for Brennan.
Lady Bear pitcher Iliana Martinez cruised, giving up four hits on three runs in the complete game effort.
Head coach Bill Holmes said the team struggled to take care of fundamentals, both on offense and defense. Senior Alexis Trotter felt nerves got the better of the Lobos.
The loss forced Lehman to rectify the miscues to extend its season Saturday at the Hardin Athletic Complex in San Antonio. It began with a three run victory in game two.
Brennan took a 3-0 lead through three innings. Lehman bats awoke in the fourth.
The Lady Lobos smashed five straight hits, scoring three runs – all with no outs. Sophomore Clarissa Rayos kick-started the rally with a leadoff triple, followed by an RBI double from Trotter and an RBI single from junior Angel Cruz.
Lehman finished the inning with five runs scored on seven hits.
Adjusting to Martinez’s style was the key; a trait Lehman accomplished against all three of Brennan’s pitchers.
“We got used to them,” second baseman Aleza Ruiz said. “We got more into the game ourselves. We were ready to play. We wanted it.”
The Lobos added two more runs in the fifth, taking a 7-3 lead. Villegas finished off the Lady Bears to force the rubber match in game three.
However, Holmes contemplated resting Villegas for game three.
He instead stuck with Villegas, saying she had been in similar situations before in select leagues.
“She said she was only going to come out if she was sore,” Holmes said. “But she finished.”
Trailing 3-1 through four innings, Lehman’s offense worked to decipher the style of Clarissa Hernandez, who finished game two for Brennan.
Ruiz said communication kept Lehman batters on point. They soon got to Hernandez in the fifth.
Lehman exploded for four runs, aided by five Brennan errors.
The Lady Lobos then placed the game into Villegas’ hands, who rose to the occasion.
Despite conceding two runs, she escaped the sixth by leaving two base runners stranded; she left six Lady Bears on the base paths in game three. Villegas finished the weekend with nine strikeouts.
She said cycling through her pitches helped keep the Bears off-balance. Ruiz lauded the senior’s determination.
“She got out of tough spots,” Ruiz said. “She did amazing things when most pitchers put their heads down.”
The Lady Lobo defense rallied to their pitcher’s cause. Only two errors were committed by Leh-man in the final 14 innings of the series.
Defense played a critical role in the final inning. With two on and one out, Villegas forced a pop fly to shortstop from Miranda Mueller.
Cruz tracked the ball down, stretching to make a remarkable grab for the second out; she then threw to first, which was then relayed to second, getting the force out to end the game.
“I was terrified,” Cruz said. “I was just hoping I could catch it. I was so excited when I did.”
With the win, Lehman continues its history-making trek to the playoffs.
For Villegas, what the team took away the 22-plus hours against Brennan will help in the next round.
“We’ll see how it goes,” she said. “We’ll pull from [what we learned] in these three games. I know we can do it.”
