Lady Lobos continue historic run

Lobos put away the Wildcats, onto the next round

Tonight, game two of a three game series between the District 30-5A IV Champions Palmview Lobos and the Gregory-Portland Wildcats took place at the home of the Lady Lobos. These two teams were very well matched from top to bottom and it showed during the first three innings of this game.

One of these teams was looking to strike first as it was 0-0 going into the 3rd inning. The Lady Wildcats took a swing and saw it leave the ballpark as they took the first lead of the game. The Lobos allowed that run to go and played some great defense to stop more from coming. Senior pitcher Arianna Alaniz would double to bring in senior outfielder Destinee Garza for the Lobos first run of the game. 1-1. 

This tie wouldn’t last long as the Lobos were able to get themselves in position to score with bases loaded. The Lobos scored three runs off hits from senior first baseman Aalysa Longoria, senior outfielder Destinee Garza, and sophomore third baseman Alynna Gonzalez. 

It was a matter of time until everything started clicking for the Lobos. Garza would bring in sophomore outfielder Marina Rodriguez to extend the lead to 4-1. 

The 6th inning was coming up after a scoreless 5th inning. The Wildcats were coming up on their last chance to cut and take the lead. After scoring one run, the Wildcats found themselves with bases loaded with only one out. At this point, it felt as if another score was inevitable, but senior pitcher Arianna Alaniz put all hopes of that away as she struckout the next two batters.

4-2 going into the final inning. The Lobos were looking to put this game away now. An ‘error’ from the Wildcats second baseman would allow the Lobos to score a run, but was ultimately overturned by the official due to an infraction. No matter the case, the Lobos prevailed as Garza would double under all of the pressure that was building up to bring in another run for the Lobos.

The game is in the hands of one, if not THE best pitcher in the nation, Arianna Alaniz. In Alaniz fashion, she struck out those batters and fought for those outs to close out the game with a score of 5-2. 

With this win tonight, the Lobos continue their historic run as they now have won a bi-district championship for the first time in school history. 

After the game, Progress Times spoke to Lobos head coach Jessica Cardenas-Russell about the history-making victory, “It’s surreal. Yesterday on the bus ride home, my heart wanted to come out of my chest…Last week I remember looking at the girls and saying, ‘Hey, we’re district champs and yesterday I told them, “Hey, we’re one game away from bi-district champs  and now today we can say we’re bi-district champs.” 

Cardenas-Russell went on to say, “That wall has always been there when we had to face those teams. We have tough competition. I’m very blessed and thankful to God that we’ve been able to overcome that wall. They always said that we would never be able to get out of the district and thankfully we did that today.”

We asked her about the confidence she has in her superstar pitcher Arianna Alaniz to come up in big situations, “Thankfully, she’s been able to keep her composure in situations like that since her freshman year. Honestly, the best thing about it is that she doesn’t show her emotions, she doesn’t lose focus when she’s in those situations. She knows the best way to help the team is to make sure she gets her job done in the circle and if the ball is put in play she knows her defense has her back.” 

Progress Times had the chance to catch up with Arianna Alaniz after the game. We asked her about the inning that she won against the Wildcats when they had bases loaded, “I was taking it one pitch at a time. I was talking to myself before every pitch and telling myself that I knew that I got it and I was able to get out of a situation like this.” Alaniz went on to say, “Knowing that my catcher has me, my defense has my back, and mentally staying strong in the circle helped my push through that inning.”

Alaniz told us about this history journey that this Lobos team has taken this year, “The past four years, this is what we’ve been working hard for and being able to accomplish this in my senior year with my teammates, with my coaches, and with all of our fans has been amazing. I’m honestly at a loss for words. We’re going to keep going hard until our last game.”

Congratulations to the Lady Lobos on their continuing their historic run by winning this series, obtaining the schools very first bi-district title, and advancing to the next round for the first time in school history. 

It was a good night for La Joya ISD as the sister school, La Joya Coyotes, took a 3-2 win over the Los Fresnos Falcons tonight. This win took the series and they have now captured a bi-district championship for themselves. Congratulations to the Coyotes for winning this series and advancing to the next round.