Eagle Pass-Maverick County Little League Junior (14U) Softball All-Stars Clinch West Texas Section 3 Championship, Advance to West Texas State Championship in Abilene, Texas during July 12-16
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2022
The mighty Eagle Pass-Maverick County Little League Junior (14U) Softball All-Stars clinched the 2022 West Texas Little League Section 3 Championship on Friday, July 8, 2022, shutting out the Uvalde Little League All-Stars by the score of 11-0 behind a stellar pitching performance by Emily Valdez and great offensive firepower, advancing to the West Texas State Championship in Abilene, Texas during July 12-16.
The Eagle Pass-Maverick County Junior All-Stars swept all three of their games at the Texas Little League West Texas Section 3 Championship tournament held in Castroville, Texas this week.
Game One: Eagle Pass-Maverick County Junior All-Stars faced host Medina Valley in the first game on Tuesday, July 5, 2022, and soundly defeated the Medina Valley All-Stars 12-2 to advance into the winner’s bracket.
Game Two: Eagle Pass-Maverick County Junior All-Stars defeated the Uvalde All-Stars by the score of 15-5 on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, with the game tied 5-5 in the top of the fifth inning when Emily Valdez slammed a 3 RBI triple to the fence to take an 8-5 lead and never looked back adding seven more runs before the end of the game, advancing to the Championship game. Claritza Leija of Eagle Pass batted 4-5 in the game with three singles and a triple to spark the Eagle Pass-Maverick County Junior All-Stars offense.
Game Three/Championship: Eagle Pass-Maverick County Junior All-Stars faced the Uvalde Strong All-Stars for the second time in the tournament for the Championship after Uvalde ousted Medina Valley earlier in the week with right to advance to the West Texas State Championship next week in Abilene, Texas. The Eagle Pass-Maverick County Junior All-Stars jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by Karina Gomez and added three runs in the fifth inning with big hits by Sofia Gomez, Mayte Figueroa, and Claritza Leija to take a 4-0 lead. Eagle Pass plated seven more runs to secure the victory and Championship behind the arm of Emily Valdez, shutting out Uvalde 11-0. Eagle Pass had 14 hits in the game as Karina Gomez batted 3 for 4 and Itzel Luna, Claritza Leija, Mayte Figueroa, and Emily Valdez had multiple hits in the game.
The Eagle Pass-Maverick County Junior All-Stars advanced to the West Texas State Championship in Abilene, Texas during July 12-16, 2022 at Kirby Lake Park, the home of the Wylie Little League, and are scheduled to play their first game against the Mineral Wells, Texas All-Stars on Wednesday, July 13. Also competing in the Texas Little League West Texas State Championship are Pecos, Texas, Oil Belt, Mineral Wells, and Eagle Pass-Maverick County.
The winner of the Texas Little League West Texas State Championship advances to the Little League Southwest United States Regional Championship the following week. The winner of the Southwest Regional Championship advances to the Little League Junior Softball World Series.
The Eagle Pass-Maverick County Junior All-Stars include Claritza Leija, Emily Valdez, Mayte Figueroa, Sofia Gomez, Karina Gomez, Fatima Montiel, Elyssa Gomez, Itzel Luna, Amber Espinosa, and Daisy Garcia. The team manager is Hector Leija and assistant coach is Harold Valdez.
The Eagle Pass Business Journal congratulates the Eagle Pass-Maverick County Little League Junior Softball All-Stars on their West Texas Section 3 Championship and wishes them all the best at the Texas Little League West Texas State Championship.