Hinojosa, Edinburg North rout Economedes with 6-run first

EDINBURG — Edinburg Economedes lost a day to prepare for No. 2 Edinburg North due to spring break in a game originally slated for Tuesday night. But the way the Lady Cougars played Monday night, it probably wouldn’t have really mattered.

The Lady Cougars’ offense exploded in the very first inning, putting up six runs on three hits and took care of their cross-town rival early in their 12-0 win. The game ended on a 10-run rule in the fifth inning.

The Cougars remain undefeated in district with a 3-0 record while the Lady Jags are struggling so far with a  0-3 record.

Edinburg North coach Richard Tressler was happy with his team’s performance after the game but made it clear that there is still room for improvement.

“I still think we can do a little bit better job,” Tressler said. “I would like for us to be a little bit more consistent with our hitting. But I still think we did a good job at the plate. I thought we ran the bases extremely well. We got some really big timely hits.”

Tressler’s team is playing at a high level which is due in large part to the tournament play before the start of the district season. The Lady Cougars played some tough competition against teams from San Antonio such as San Antonio Judson and San Antonio Wagner, both defeated by the Lady Cougars.

Tressler said he feels that the tournament play was a big reason why his team is playing top-caliber softball.

“You’re going to be as good as the competition you play against,” Tressler said. “It prepared us for district. All those teams we played against are playoff teams from last year and we held our own up there against them.”

The Lady Coogs’ played great defense which was led by pitcher Iliana Hinojosa, who pitched a complete-game shutout as she struck out seven batters and stranded three runners. She also performed well on offense, reaching base all four times she batted and scored three runs.

“I think we did a great job tonight,” Hinojosa said. “We hit the ball really well and played extremely tough defense. We’re doing real well right now but we still have a long way to go.”

The Lady Cougars’ offense was led by Clarissa Garcia, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while the Lady Jags were led by Kayla Silva, who went 2-for-2.