By Tyler Mayforth
Daily Record Sports
San Marcos — Anyssa Gonzales hadn’t struck out since the beginning of the season.
So it’s easy to understand why Gonzales was upset after getting sent down in strikes in the second inning of San Marcos’ 13-1 loss to Elgin Friday night.
“I’ve been paying attention to where the ball comes and I didn’t do it my first at-bat,” Gonzales said. “I shouldn’t have struck out, but I did, so I knew I had to get her back.”
Gonzales didn’t wait to make Lady Wildcats pitcher Sarah Johnson pay for her transgression in her next at-bat.
Johnson tossed a fat pitch in the middle of the zone and Gonzales crushed it over the left-center field wall for a solo home run. As it turns out, Gonzales didn’t even know she made solid contact.
“I had my eyes closed, but I kind of felt it in the bat,” Gonzales said. “I didn’t even swing all the way, so it was going to be iffy on whether it was going to go over or not.”
Well, there was one person who knew it was a no-doubter once Gonzales made contact — Lady Rattlers head coach Cathy Stoughton.
“That’s as far as I’ve seen a ball hit at this field,” Stoughton said. “Our fence is 230 feet, so it takes a bit of power to get out.”
Gonzales’ home run was one of very few positives to come out of San Marcos’ 11-run loss at Rattler Field.
The Lady Rattlers stranded six runners against Elgin, including five which were on either second or third base. San Marcos hit Johnson hard, but couldn’t find any openings.
“This is the second time in district we’ve left a bunch of runners on base,” Stoughton said. “We left 11 on base against Del Valle and tonight, it killed us. You can’t waste opportunities against Elgin. They’ll make you pay.”
The Lady Wildcats, who are ranked third in Class 4A, took advantage of several blunders by the Lady Rattlers.
San Marcos starting pitcher Jessica Villapando wasn’t sharp on the mound as she walked 10 batters and allowed six balls to be hit to the fence. Her defense didn’t help her out, as the Lady Rattlers overplayed several sinking line drives which turned into triples or worse.
“When she got tired, we started walking some hitters,” Stoughton said. “To her credit, she was hitting her spots, but against a team like Elgin, sometimes they’re going to hit your best pitch. That’s just the reality of it.”
The loss dropped San Marcos to 9-11 overall and 1-1 in District 17-4A. The Lady Wildcats improved to 19-2 and 2-0.
“You know Elgin’s always going to be solid and tough,” Stoughton said. “They’ve won a lot of ball games this year and they have the confidence that they’re going to come in and beat you, no matter who you are or no matter where you play.
“That’s the kind of confidence we need to develop as a team. We need to believe in ourselves a little bit more. There are just a couple things missing to make us a complete team.”
The team was scheduled to continue play in its own SMHSâSpring Break Classic Saturday.
