Eagle Pass Lady Eagles Rally to Defeat Del Rio Queens 8-4 on Grand Slam Home Run by Heather Ruiz

By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2017

The Eagle Pass High School Lady Eagles Softball Team rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning with no outs to defeat arch-rival Del Rio High School Queens 8-4 on a grand slam home run belted by standout shortstop Heather Ruiz on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, improving their District 29-6A record to 5-2.

Going into the seventh inning, the Lady Eagles trailed the Del Rio Queens 4-3 in the key District 29-6A game.  Lady Eagle Alexandra Martinez led off the seventh inning with an infield hit to third base to get on base on a head-first hustle slide beating the throw to first base.  Lady Eagle Stephanie Estrada followed with a bunt single to advance Martinez to second base.  Lady Eagle Karina Ruiz came in as a pinch hitter and battled the Queens pitcher Anahi Venegas to a base on balls to load up the bases with no outs.  Del Rio Head Coach Nufi Rodriguez lifted starting pitcher Anahi Venegas and brought in relief pitcher Alejandra Rodriguez to face Lady Eagles leadoff Hitter Kayla Ochoa with bases loaded and no outs.  Ochoa drew a base on balls on four straight pitches to bring in Alexandra Martinez with the tying run, 4-4, and still with bases loaded and no outs.  Lady Eagle standout shortstop Heather Ruiz came to the plate looking for a pitch to hit as the Queens had been avoiding throwing her any good pitches during the game. Queens pitcher Alejandra Rodriguez threw two straight balls to Ruiz before finally throwing a strike.  With the count 2 balls and 1 strike, Queens pitcher Rodriguez had no choice but to pitch to Ruiz because a base on balls would bring the winning run from third base, throwing a waist high fast ball on the outside corner of the plate which Ruiz blasted high into the night sky over the center field fence with at least 30 feet to spare to rally the Lady Eagles victory in dramatic fashion with a walk-off grand slam to the joy of her teammates, coaches, and loyal Lady Eagles aficionados.  The Queens were stunned with Ruiz’s impressive grand slam home run and walked off the field dejected, falling three outs short of upsetting their rival Lady Eagles in District play for the first time in over 10 years.

Lady Eagles starting pitcher Kaitlin Galvan earned the win going six innings while Lady Eagle relief pitcher Leenette Krezdorn hurled one inning.  Galvan allowed seven hits, including one home run, and struck out three Queens batters while allowing three earned runs.  Krezdorn allowed one hits, one base on balls, and one earned run in relief.

The Lady Eagles scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the first inning on a one out triple to the right-center field fence by Heather Ruiz followed by an RBI single to left field by Lady Eagle Lorelei Morales.

The visiting Queens tallied two runs in the top of the third inning to take a 2-1 lead over the Lady Eagles on three base hits off of Lady Eagle pitcher Kaitlin Galvan.

The Lady Eagles added two runs of their own in the bottom of the third inning to retake the lead 3-2 with a leadoff single by Lady Eagle catcher Kayla Ochoa, a base on ball to Heather Ruiz, and a two RBI single by Lady Eagle pitcher Kaitlin Galvan with two outs.

The Queens tied the game, 3-3-, by scoring one run in the top of the fourth inning on a solo home run over the left field fence by Izzy Guajardo.  The Lady Eagles went threw up, three down in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Lady Eagles Head Coach Oscar Ruiz brought in relief pitcher Leenette Krezdorn in the top of the fifth inning to try to shut down the potent Queens batters.  The Queens scored one run in the top of the fifth inning on one base on balls and an RBI single by Christina Saenz to retake the lead 4-3 in the game.  The Lady Eagles went three up, three down in the bottom of the fifth inning, trailing 4-3.

Lady Eagles Head Coach Oscar Ruiz brought back starting pitcher Kaitlin Galvan in the top of the sixth inning to keep the Queens hitters off-balance.  Galvan responded by retiring the Queens three up, three down in the top of the sixth inning and later only allowed one hit in the top of the seventh inning on a disputed umpire call before shutting the door.

The Lady Eagles came to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning trailing 4-3 and the rest is history as they pulled a come from behind rally in grand fashion as a total team effort on Heather Ruiz’s memorable grand slam home run.

Leading the Lady Eagles on offense was Heather Ruiz batting 2 for 3 with a home run, triple, 4 RBIs, and 3 runs scored; Kayla Ochoa went 2 for 3 with 2 singles, 1 RBI, and scored 2 runs; Kaitlin Galvan was 1 for 3 with 1 single, and 2 RBIs; Lorelei Morales batted 1 for 3 with 1 single, 1 RBI, and scored 1 run; Bella Ruiz went 1 for 3 with one single; Alexandra Martinez was 1 for 3 with 1 single and 1 run scored; and Stephanie Estrada went 1 for 3 with 1 single and 1 run scored.