SMHS SOFTBALL
San Marcos played their most complete game of the season, defeating the Converse Judson Rockets 13-1 for their second district win. San Marcos improves to 9-15 overall and 2-5 in district play.
“This is what we’re capable of doing,” Head Coach Cathy Stoughton said. “They’ve been really good this year about keeping and bringing the energy, and Juju [Juliana Garcia] had a great game in the circle tonight. We had some great defensive plays. Kez [Keziah Rios] made an amazing catch at the fence in center. But for us to play good defense, to pitch the ball well, and then on the offensive side, to come in, not only to get timely hits, but we played the short game tonight.
“That’s something we’ve been desperately needing. We had so many girls that came through tonight with the short game, putting the ball in play when we needed it. Good contact, smart base running, it was a complete game for us and it was fun to watch them play when they play like that.”
The Rattlers struck first as Juliana Garcia scored from third on a wild pitch to take the early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second.
Later in the at-bat with runners on second and third, Kendra Robledo connected with a tworun RBI triple as the Rattlers went up 3-0.
Emery Cisneros then brought Robledo home on a sacrifice bunt, making it a 4-0 game.
The Rattlers put runners on second and third once more as Emalyn Martinez scored on a wild pitch from third before Arianna Flores scored on a Selena Silva infield hit, which turned into three bases for Silva on the Rockets throwing error, extending the lead to 6-0.
The Rockets answered back in the top of the third, hitting an RBI double to cut their deficit to 6-1.
Cisneros added on to San Marcos’ lead in the bottom of the third, hitting a two-run RBI, pushing the Rattler lead up 8-1.
Later in the bottom of the fourth, the Rattlers struck again as Rios laid down the sacrifice bunt with runners on second and third to score a run before a Judson throwing error moved the runners up a base.
Cisneros added another run on a sacrifice fly before an RBI single by Martinez made it an 11-1 game.
Selena Silva catches the ball at shortstop before making the throw at first to complete the out. The Rattler defense made only one error in their win over Judson. Daily Record photo by Gerald Castillo
Up next, Flores connected with a two-run RBI double, making it a 13-1 game.
Garcia closed out the game from the circle, getting one strikeout while forcing both a groundout and an infield flyout as the Rattlers sealed the win.
Garcia earned the win, throwing a complete game while allowing just five hits, one earned run, one walk and striking out six batters. Cisneros led the offense with four RBIs while Rios went 2-3 from the plate.
The Rattlers will look to add another district win to their record as San Marcos goes on the road to Cibolo Steele. The Knights are 18-7-1 overall, coming off a non-district win over the Austin Bowie Bulldogs, who are 11-1 overall and 5-1 in district play, with their lone loss coming against state ranked East Central.
First pitch is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Cibolo Steele.
Keziah Rios makes the running catch at the wall in center field for the final out in the top of the third inning. Rios was 2-3 from the plate with one RBI. Daily Record photo by Gerald Castillo
