Porter Power

There's a definite Porter presence on The Brownsville Herald's 2008 All-Metro Softball Team.

The Cowgirls dominated the selections this year after winning District 32-5A with a 14-0 mark and finishing with a 29-5 overall record. It was the first time for Porter to go undefeated in district.

Porter captured the 32-5A title for the fourth time in the last five years. It was a season ago that the Cowgirls didn't win district. They finished second.

"I think we did a lot better than last year," said Porter junior shortstop Abby Martinez, chosen All-Metro co-MVP with teammate Rocio Valles, a sophomore catcher. "This season we developed a lot more mentally and skills-wise. We surpassed the way we played last year.

"Our outcome was a lot better than the previous year," she added. "It was a big payoff for us to go to the playoffs. Although it didn't end on a good note (losing to Edinburg North in bi-district), we still played as hard as we could, and I thought we did really well overall.

"The fact that this past season's playoff run didn't last too long had nothing to do with the quality of our team. We were a good team, and next year we'll do the same. We'll keep the (winning) tradition going. We're the ‘Prisoners of Softball,' and nothing's going to take that away."

Valles was a dependable performer behind the plate and led the Cowgirls with a .474 season batting average. She hit a team-high five home runs. Martinez was close behind with a .424 season batting average and she hit three homers. Both hit homers in the playoffs and both have started since they were freshmen.

"Abby was my team captain this season," said Porter's Luis Guevara, the All-Metro coach of the year. "She's an aggressive player and she's not afraid to get dirty. She's constantly motivating her teammates.

"Rocio is very talented," Guevara added. "Her brothers were very good baseball players, so she's got it in her blood. She's a naturally strong girl with a strong arm. Hardly anybody stole (a base) on her the entire season. She was also a strong leader for us.

"Shortstop and catcher are two very important positions, and we had two very good players at those spots in Abby and Rocio."

Concerning her selection as All-Metro co-MVP, Valles said, "I just gave it the best I could and went from there. I felt I improved a lot (from my freshman year)."

Eva Salazar, a senior and another Porter standout, is the designated player of the year, while Rivera freshman infielder Melissa Mahoud is the newcomer of the year.

The All-Metro first-team pitching staff consists of sophomores Cheryl Vasquez of Porter (28-5) and Mariela Hernandez of Los Fresnos (18-9).

Vasquez set a school record for most strikeouts in a season with 218. She topped the previous record of 213 set in 2005 by Alicia Guevara, the Porter coach's daughter.

Los Fresnos coach Bob Torres said Hernandez was one the main reasons the Lady Falcons reached the 20-win plateau and made the playoffs for the first time as a  Class 5A school. This season marked Los Fresnos' first trip to the postseason since 2001, when the Lady Falcons competed in 4A.

The All-Metro first-team infield features Porter's Samantha Ramos at first base, Lopez's Amanda Battles at second, Los Fresnos' Nikki Ramos at shortstop and Los Fresnos' Roxanne Martinez at third. The catcher is Los Fresnos' Priscilla Ruiz.

Ramos, Martinez and Ruiz were three of Los Fresnos' top hitters as Ramos led the Lady Falcons with a .511 batting average in district.

The first-team outfield is made up of all Porter players with Kory Flores in right field, Alyssa Garcia in center field and Karmina Castillo in left. Flores, an adept baserunner and leadoff batter this season as a junior, was second on the Porter squad with a .450 batting average and set a school record with more than 40 stolen bases.

The All-Metro second-team pitching staff includes Hanna's Amber Sanchez, Pace's Addy Garcia and Port Isabel's Morgan Malik.

The second-team infield consists of catcher Roxanne Gutierrez of Hanna, first baseman Alyssa Perales of Los Fresnos, second baseman Crystal Garcia of Porter, shortstops Samantha Perez of Pace and Ann Ortiz of Hanna, third baseman Annette Garza of Porter and outfielders Alyssa Garcia and Vanessa Rodriguez of Los Fresnos and Christina Averill and Gaby Maraboto of Hanna.