El Paso bi-district softball recap: Eight teams remain in UIL playoffs
It'd been seven years since the Parkland softball team has won a bi-district playoff series entering this weekend's Class 5A best-of-three series against District 1-5A champion Chapin.
But the Matadors, who were No. 4 seed out of District 2-5A, showed great determination and fight and won the series in three games to advance to the area round and they did it the hard way.
Parkland lost Game 1, 13-2, on Friday at home and trailed 5-3 in Game 2 in the seventh inning on Saturday. But the Matadors scored three runs in the top of the seventh to win, 6-5, then held off Chapin, 11-9, in the third and deciding game to win the series.
"Our kids never gave up and they finished it," Parkland coach Rich Rocha said. "We have a young team with just three seniors and our kids just kept pushing forward and they kept believing."
In the deciding seventh inning of Game 2, Olympia Castilo and Faith Avila had key run-scoring base hits. In the second game, freshman pitcher Devyn Rodriguez pitched two scoreless innings to close out the game, including a perfect ninth inning.
"We have faith in each other and we want to make Parkland a winner again," Rodriguez said. "We battled, we never lost hope. We made the plays when we had to. It feels amazing to win and advance."
On offense, leadoff batter Lyric Batie scored two runs and had a key RBI in the sixth and Samantha Martinez drove in two runs during a five-run first inning to help lead the Matadors offense.
Here is a look at how the other El Paso-area teams fared in the bi-district round.
Class 6A
Americas lost in three games to Odessa Permian. The Trailblazers lost 9-1, won 16-6 and lost 5-4.
Socorro was swept by Wolfforth Frenship, 13-0 and 6-5
Eastwood lost a one-game playoff to San Angelo Central, 13-5.
Montwood was swept by Midland High, 11-2, and 13-12.
Class 5A
Hanks advanced to the area round with a 14-2 win against El Paso High. Desirae Spearman was the winning pitcher with six strikeouts, had three hits and two home runs in the win. Judith Osuna and Mia Bailey had three hits each.
Del Valle advanced to area with a 24-2 win against Burges.
Ysleta defeated Canutillo in three games. Canutillo won the first game, 10-5, on Friday but the Indians won 13-12 and 6-2. The Indians have won two straight bi-district titles.
Class 4A
Riverside advanced to area with a 19-0 win against Mountain View. Zoey Quintana picked up the win in the circle for the District 1-4A champion Rangers, and infielder Julie Muniz hit her 10th home run of the season. Jade Rodriguez, a former softball standout at Americas and UTEP, picked up her first playoff win as a coach in Texas.
Clint advances to area with 22-4 win against YWA.
Fabens is headed to area after sweeping Austin, 16-6 and 26-13. On Friday, Laisha Valdez was the winning pitcher and had three hits. On Saturday, Alejandra Roman went 5-for-6 with three home runs, including a grand slam and 10 RBIs.
More: HS softball news El Paso players, teams to watch in bidistrict round of UIL softball playoffs
Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on Twitter
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso bi-district softball recap: Eight teams remain in UIL playoffs
