Strong showing: Lady Bears blank Bobcats in district 31-6A opener

SAN JUAN — The Lady Bears (17-1, 1-0) from Pharr-San Juan-Alamo High School blanked the Edinburg Bobcats, 15-0, during a 31-6A district opener on Friday.

The Bears — who are not only one of the top teams in the RGV, but as well as the state — made themselves at home after taking gold at the Brenda Marshall’s Bayfront Bash Tournament in Corpus last week.

Arianna Lugo, a junior for the Lady Bears, set the tone early in the first inning as she hit a leadoff home run to get the ball rolling. The Bobcats (5-10-1, 0-1) committed a couple of errors that allowed for the Bears to get into offensive position.

Down 5-0, after the first, Victoria Solis from EHS, pitched low to get PSJA's Amerie Vega to hit a pop fly — which ended the bleeding caused by the Bears.

The second inning was a stalemate by both teams as neither team was able to score.

At the top of the third, PSJA's pitcher Emma Escamilla retired three straight batters — with the first and third being strikeouts, while the second was a pop fly to the infield.

A few more errors by the Bobcats allowed a runner to score for the Bears at the bottom of the third inning.

Vega had a triple to left field that allowed two RBIs for her squad. After that, Aubrey Garza had a double for an RBI herself. A mishap at the left field shortshop allowed the 10th run for PSJA.

The game was called after three innings. The Bears' defense proved to be somewhat top-notch with Escamilla's seven strikeouts.

Head Coach Alyssa Garza said she felt good opening district play with a commanding win, especially after the road trip in Corpus last week.

"Our girls have come out this season, and we're hitting the ball very well," Garza said. 

The coach said that the team and her have high expectations for the rest of the season, not only for district but for the postseason.

"(We're) keeping that same mentality of continuing to score a lot of runs and (make) all preparations for, you know, to hopefully make a deep run in the playoffs," she said.

The Bears will play their second district game against Economedes High School on Tuesday in Edinburg at 7 p.m. After that, PSJA has a tough test against the Weslaco Panthers (17-4-1, 1-0) on Friday in San Juan.

The Panthers, who many in the region know as the team who won the state title in 2024, are coming off their own shutout, as they beat La Joya on Friday, 19-0. 

Last season, the Panthers took the title of district champions for 31-6A. The Bears finished as the runner-up.

Follow P.J. on X: @PJHernandez_