Maverick County Little League Softball Juniors All-Stars Shut Out Pecos, Texas 18-0, Advance to State Championship Game
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2022
The Eagle Pass-Maverick County Little League Softball Juniors (14 Under) All-Stars shut out the Pecos, Texas All-Stars 18-0 in their second West Texas State Championship tournament game to remain undefeated (2-0) on Thursday, July 14, 2022, at Abilene, Texas, advancing to the championship game on Saturday, July 16, 2022 against the winner of the Oil Belt All-Stars versus Pecos elimination game on July 15.
The Eagle Pass-Maverick County All-Stars plated one run in the first inning as Mayte Figueroa belted an RBI triple to the fence scoring a fellow teammate on base.
In the second inning, the Eagle Pass-Maverick County All-Stars unleashed a barrage of base hits to score 10 unanswered runs as Emily Valdez, Daisy Garcia, Sofia Gomez, Claritza Leija, and Elisa Gomez slammed RBI hits to take a commanding 11-0 lead against the stunned Pecos All-Stars. They added seven more runs to go up 18-0 before the game was called due to the 10 run rule after four innings.
Emily Valdez hurled a no-hitter combined with relief pitcher Sofia Gomez. Valdez tossed three innings allowing one base on balls while holding Pecos’ batters hit less and struck out three. Sofia Gomez came in relief in the fourth inning to complete the no-hitter started by Valdez.
Leading the offensive firepower for Eagle Pass were Claritza Leija, Elisa Gomez, Daisy Garcia, and Emily Valdez with each collecting two hits in the game.
The Eagle Pass-Maverick County All-Stars include Claritza Leija, Emily Valdez, Mayte Figueroa, Sofia Gomez, Karina Gomez, Fatima Montiel, Elisa Gomez, Itzel Luna, Amber Espinosa, and Daisy Garcia. Team manager is Hector Leija and the assistant coach is Harold Valdez.
The mighty Eagle Pass-Maverick County Little League Softball Juniors All-Stars are one game away from qualifying for the Little League Softball Southwest Regional Championship next week, but first must take care of business in Saturday’s West Texas State Championship game in order to punch their ticket to the Southwest Regional Championship.
Two Eagle Pass Little League Juniors Softball Teams have previously qualified for the Little League Softball Juniors World Series in Kirkland, Washington, one led by Coach Cesar Flores and another led by Willie Ruiz. The 2022 team seeks to become the third team to go to the World Series, but must first win the West Texas State Championship and the Southwest Regional Championship to get there. One game at a time.
The Eagle Pass Business Journal congratulates the Eagle Pass-Maverick County Little League Softball Juniors All-Stars in reaching the West Texas State Championship game on Saturday, July 16, and wishes them all the best of luck in their drive to the World Series.
