Softball battles hard in two tough losses

San Marcos continued their trek through the Rattler Spring Break Classic as the Rattlers lost to the top ranked Iowa Park Hawks 3-0 and Nixon Smiley Mustangs 2-1.

Head Coach Cathy Stroughton was proud of her team for being able to bounce back after a tough loss to Austin Bowie to kick off the Classic.

“We had a much better game compared to last Thursday,” Stroughton said. “We battled against one of the top teams in the state in Iowa Park all the way down to the final inning.”

In their showdown against the Hawks, both San Marcos and Iowa Park battled each other to a scoreless game through five innings.

In the fourth inning, the Rattlers were able to break the no-hitter as Eliza Lozano hit an infield single to give San Marcos their first base runner of the day.

Following a sac bunt to move Loreno to second, Lina Alvarez hit a double towards left field to give San Marcos runners in scoring position.

However, Iowa Park managed to keep the baserunners from scoring with a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning.

Iowa Park made a break in the score in the final inning as a two out RBI single scored one run for the Hawks to make it 1-0.

The Hawks followed the play up with a 2-run RBI triple to add on to their lead at 3-0.

But the Rattlers refused to give up as Brooke Rodriguez and Lozano hit back to back singles to give San Marcos a chance to tie the game up.

Unfortunately for San Marcos, Iowa Park converted the next three outs as the Hawks took home the 3-0 win.

In the Saturday morning showdown with Nixon- Smiley, the Mustangs struck first blood following back to back singles when an RBI double put them away on top at 1-0.

However, San Marcos stopped the bleeding when the Rattlers converted the double play by throwing out the runner on first and throwing out another runner trying to advance to home to keep it at 1-0.

In the second inning, the Rattlers drew two walks to put runners on first and second base with only one out.

With Ellie Cervantes being the courtesy runner for Jessica DeLeon, Cervantes advanced to third on the wild pitch to put runners on the corners.

Though K Saenz was caught trying to steal second, Cervantes was able to score on the throw to second as the Rattlers tied the game up at 1-1.

But Nixon-Smiley was able to respond by taking advantage of a single and a double to have runners in scoring position.

A groundout allowed one run to score for the Mustangs as Nixon-Smiley retook the lead at 2-1.

The Mustangs looked to add more runs to their lead as back to back singles put runners on first and second base with no outs.

San Marcos was able to convert two outs before a single loaded the bases for the Mustangs with just two outs.

But the Rattlers got out of the inning as a flyout towards center field gave San Marcos the final out.

San Marcos was able to load the bases in the final inning but a strikeout ended the game to hand Nixon-Smiley a 2-1 win.

The Rattlers had one more game left in the tournament that finished after the Daily Record's time for press.

San Marcos restarts district play Tuesday night at home against Cibolo Steele.