by MARK CAUL
Lehman senior Liz Valderaz is enjoying her finest season yet on the softball field for the Lady Lobos. She has been with the team through some lean years, but so far this season they already have amassed a school-record 16 wins. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
When the last seconds ticked off the clock signaling the end of the Lehman girls basketball season, Lehman’s Liz Valderaz breathed a huge sign of relief. Not that she doesn’t enjoy playing the game, mind you.
But it is quite apparent that the rocket-armed senior third baseman was born to play softball even though an early stint as a T-ball player more than a decade ago may have suggested otherwise.
“Her stepfather and I took Liz to play T-ball when she was about five years old and she wasn’t very good at all,” Valderaz’s mother Gracie Abeita said with a laugh. “Once she wound up and threw the ball, we were like ‘Oh no.’ She wasn’t very coordinated. We had no idea she would become the player she is today.”
Despite the rough start, her parents eventually allowed Valderaz to give the game another try. Once she was able to develop a bit more athletically she joined a select team as a 9-year-old while living in Del Valle.
“At first I just played softball to hang out with my friends and stay busy,” Valderaz said. “But the more I started to play, the more I really liked playing. It didn’t take long for it to become my favorite sport.”
Upon entering high school, it was pretty evident to Valderaz that she would be a part of a brand new program that would struggle to find its identity in the early stages.
She teamed with childhood friends Desiree Cruz (who graduated in 2009) and current teammate Feliciana Torres to form the cornerstone of the Lady Lobos softball program.
“I was really excited to finally get a chance to play softball in high school,” said Valderaz. “But to be honest, my first year was a little disappointing. There was no structure and we didn’t have a very large pool of girls to choose from at the time. The three of us knew we would have to be the leaders of the team. It was pretty frustrating to keep losing all the time, though.”
Today, Valderaz is everything a Lehman fan could want a Lobo student-athlete to be. She’s intelligent, active in student activities, unselfish, humble – oh, and she’s also an exceptional athlete to boot.
She is clearly one of the leaders on a Lehman softball team that is enjoying its finest season to date.
Third-year head coach Nikki Herrera, who inherited a program that had only won a total of two games in its first two seasons, believes that Valderaz’s emergence as one of the premier players in the district has helped spark the Lady Lobos to a school-best 16-6 mark this season.
“Liz has been fantastic this season both offensively and defensively,” Herrera said. “I can’t say enough about how she has taken this team on her shoulders and led by example. She always plays hard and she’s such a competitor. The rest of the team is following her example.”
Valderaz, who has been a first-team All-District selection the last two seasons, had anticipated a successful season for her Lady Lobos even before the first practice was held.
“I was really excited that so many girls turned out for tryouts,” said Valderaz. “In the past, there weren’t a whole lot of girls that were interested in playing. Then, once practice started I saw how much talent our younger players had. I couldn’t wait for the season to get started.”
In her final season, Valderaz is among the team leaders in hitting for the first time in her career and paces the team in most of their defensive categories.
In fact, she has even developed a patented move that she has perfected over the past four years.
Usually when a defender is on third base and the ball is hit to her, Valderaz will fake the throw across the diamond and will then reach back and tag out the surprised runner before they can retreat back to the bag.
“It kind of started my freshman year against Steele by accident and I’ve been doing it ever since,” Valderaz said. “I’m always surprised that it works – but it always does. I’ve had a couple of players and coaches come up to me after the game and compliment me on it. It’s pretty funny.”
Pretty impressive for a girl who got off to such a suspect beginning while throwing the ball as a youngster.
Abeita marvels at the progress her daughter has made since then and is now her biggest supporter. She can usually be spotted at every game equipped with a scorebook and an encouraging smile.
“I don’t think she’s ever missed one of my games since I started playing softball,” Valderaz said. “I feel bad because she has to work extra hours sometimes just so she can take off to come to my games. But when I look up in the stands and don’t see her, I get worried. She came a little bit late to one of my games during a tournament last week and I couldn’t really concentrate until she got there.”
Abeita acknowledges it’s bittersweet watching her daughter play her final season at Lehman.
“It will be different next year when she’s at college,” Gracie said. “I won’t be able to see every game like I’m used to. But I will try to get to every game I can because she needs my support. I’m very proud of her.”
Another one of Valderaz’s most ardent supporters is stepbrother Tre Abeita, who has flourished as a Lobo in his own right as a member of both the Lobo baseball and football teams.
The two classmates became siblings when their parents were married last year.
“We support each other a hundred percent,” Tre Abeita said. “She is always at my games and when we aren’t playing I go to her games. I try to give her pointers on some things. But she does a good job without my advice most of the time.”
The two siblings insist that they don’t compare stats even though they both are very competitive by nature.
“He sometimes gives me a hard time when I score a basket in basketball, because I don’t score that much,” said Valderaz. “But he’s always very supportive of me. He gives me a couple of ideas here and there. I appreciate what he does to help me.”
Like Tre, Valderaz is already planning to continue her playing career in college.
At a recent showcase for high school seniors at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Valderaz was able to strut her stuff for college coaches and caught the eye of Incarnate Word head coach Todd Bradley, who has encouraged the Lehman product to be an outfielder at the next level.
Herrera is confident that her star pupil will be ready to make the transition.
“I believe Liz will make a great college outfielder,” Herrera said. “She’s got the right instincts and speed it takes to play the position. And more importantly, she has the determination to succeed at that level.”
Before long, her sensational career at Lehman will be over. But that shouldn’t prevent blue-and-silver fans from marveling at all that Valderaz has accomplished and how she’s become intertwined with the fabric of the campus.
One of the goals that Valderaz wanted to accomplish as a Lady Lobo was to help the softball program improve and grow into another successful entity at one of the district’s up-and-coming schools.
Mission accomplished.
“I got a taste of the playoffs in basketball last year so I know how cool that is,” Valderaz said. “My teammates and I talk about it all the time. Making the playoffs this season would definitely be something to be proud of. It would make history. And nobody would be able to take that away from us.”
