A single play can change the momentum of any sport. Sometimes, all a softball team needs is one powerful swing to change the trajectory of a game. On Tuesday night, Alexander strung together 17 hits, with the biggest hits coming in extra innings to beat LBJ 12-11 in a key District 30-6A game as the regular season winds down.
“We took a lead on them and then made some unfortunate errors, but our top Dogs came through and hit the ball,” Alexander head coach Alex Colin said. “Carmen (Perez), Andrea (Cantu), Jazmine (Rodriguez) all came through, but Mia (Rubio) and Jacky (Tijerina) came up with some clutch hits for us in the extra innings.”
With the victory over LBJ, the Lady Bulldogs have put themselves back in the conversation for a postseason berth but must continue to play at a high level and secure victories with two games remaining in the regular season.
It was a back-and-forth game against the Lady Wolves, but Alexander came up with more offensive power to edge past LBJ. After the game was tied at 10 at the end of the seventh, Alexander continued to add runs to the scoreboard with the help of an unlikely player who came off the bench.
Senior Mia Rubio has been injured for the past four games and has not been able to take the field with her teammates. The starting catcher is now confined to the sidelines, where all she can do is watch her team take the field without her.
“I always tell the girls not to take any game for granted; anything can happen at any moment,” Rubio said. “It has been hard sitting on the sidelines, seeing the team take the field without me.”
At the end of the seventh inning, Rubio informed her coaches that she would be warming up just in case they needed her to bat. In the eighth inning, Rubio pulled off a Freddie Freeman, who had a key hit in the opening game of the 2024 World Series to beat New York. Freeman hit a grand slam as the Dodgers won 6-3 and eventually claimed the World Series title.
Rubio had the bases loaded and ripped a single down the third baseline to tie the game at 11 as junior Jacky Tijerina came up to bat. Tijerina’s hit was bobbled by LBJ’s third baseman, who opted to throw the ball to first base, allowing Alexander to score the winning run and put the Lady Bulldogs back into the playoff conversation with two games remaining.
“I just told coach that I was ready if he needed me to bat,” Rubio said. “Everyone on our team is considered a leader, and we all, at one point or another, have come up with clutch hits. I was able to be that clutch hitter and leader in this game.”
Alexander displayed an enormous amount of resiliency at the start of the game after falling behind 2-0 through the first two innings. The Lady Bulldogs started to string together some hits and pulled themselves ahead.
Alexander’s Ellie Gonzalez started the rally with a single, followed by Rayanne Moran’s single, which put runners on the corners. Senior standout Carmen Perez, who is set to take her talents to Coastal Bend College next season, is known for her prowess at the plate.
Perez, named the Laredo Morning Times Most Valuable Player as a junior, entered Tuesday’s game against the Lady Wolves with a .451 batting average, leading the Lady Bulldogs at the plate.
On a 1-2 count, Perez ripped a single that landed inside the right-field baseline as LBJ’s Daniela Garza valiantly attempted to catch the ball, which got past her. Perez drove in two runs and had enough speed in her 5-foot-5 frame to score on an inside-the-park home run, giving Alexander a 3-2 edge in the third inning.
By the time all the dust settled and Alexander had gone through a slew of batters, the Lady Bulldogs held a 9-2 lead. LBJ was not done, scoring eight runs to take a 10-9 lead. After seven innings, the score was tied at 10, but it was the Lady Wolves who scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning to regain the lead.
Rubio came through in the clutch when her team needed her most, delivering a huge hit to tie the game at 11.
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